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> Let’s assume Facebook does target ads at depressed teens. My reaction? So what. Sometimes data behaves unethically. Stop right there. Data has no behavior. Y

• virtuabhi 9y ago
  In your statement - "you are making the decision", "you" can be replaced by algorithms. Algorithms are taking decisions (e.g. giving loans, showing ads) based on data. Algorithms can have bias. Data can have bias.
• andrewflnr 9y ago
  I think you and he have sort of the same point: data has no ethical orientation. If you unpacked that sentence, he would probably clarify it to "data behaves in ways that, if there was a human making that call, would be unethical". What makes the situation interesting is that there's not necessarily a person that makes the decision to do potentially damaging ad targeting: if you want to prevent it, you probably have to specifically prevent it in each case. Is Facebook responsible for preventing every single unethical ad targeting? Given the unfeasibility of that, does this problem mean we should call it quits on targeted ads entirely?
• pjmorris 9y ago
  Exactly. There is a long [0], long [1] history of people being held accountable for problems enabled by their carelessness. [0] Hammurabi's Code, 229. If a builder build a house for some one, and does not construct it properly, and the house which he built fall in and kill its owner, then that builder shall be put to death. [1] Exodus 21:29 If, however, the bull has had the habit of goring and the owner has been warned but has not kept it penned up and it kills a man or woman, the bull is to be stoned and its owner also is to be put to death