Journal of Northeastern University(Social Science) ›› 2020, Vol. 22 ›› Issue (1): 7-15.DOI: 10.15936/j.cnki.1008-3758.2020.01.002

• Scientific and Technological Philosophy • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Ethical Reflections, Governance and Implications Under the Background of Big Data Price Discrimination

LI Fei-xiang   

  1. (College of Marxism, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing 211106, China)
  • Received:2019-05-20 Revised:2019-05-20 Online:2020-01-25 Published:2020-01-19
  • Contact: -
  • About author:-
  • Supported by:

    -

Abstract:

Big data technology improves social operation's efficiency and enriches people’s daily life, but it also brings the problem of price discrimination in the process of development. It not only infringes the legitimate rights and interests of users, but also affects people's trust in this advanced technology, which maybe due to the imperfection of technology development, the excessive pursuit of capitals, the absence of ethical norms and principles, the complexity and inadequacy of supervision and the users' negligence as well as difficulty of protecting their own legitimate rights. Therefore, such perspectives of data itself, Internet platforms and users can be taken to reexamine the hidden ethical reflections of big data technology, mainly involving several key points-the ownership and distribution of data, the ethical rules that algorithms should follow, the reasonable definition of subjects of responsibility, the maintenance of the trust mechanism of relevant platforms, and the awakening of users' awareness of “data rights”. Only by doing so can big data technology be better understood and applied, and the whole society is likely to make continuous progress towards the concept of “Tech for Social Good” in the application and restriction of data.

Key words: big data price discrimination, data ownership, ethics of algorithm, Internet platform, privacy ethics, multi-player game

CLC Number: