Doing the Right Thing: Data Ethics in Practice

An organization can be fully compliant with every privacy law on the books and still cause real harm with its data. That gap, between legal and ethical, is exactly where data ethics lives. The Data Literacy Guide to Data Ethics breaks down the three principles, respect for persons, beneficence, and justice, that guide ethical data decisions across the entire data lifecycle, from procurement to disposal. By the end, you'll understand why building an ethical data culture takes more than a compliance checklist: it takes judgment, shared values, and the willingness to do the right thing even when no one's watching.

Purpose

To build a working understanding of data ethics as a discipline that goes beyond privacy and compliance, covering the full data lifecycle.

Outcome

• Understand why full legal compliance doesn't guarantee ethical data use
• Learn the three principles, respect for persons, beneficence, and justice, that guide ethical decisions
• Recognize data ethics as a lifecycle-wide responsibility, not a one-time policy check

This Course Includes

• An interactive, self-paced e-learning module (5–10 minutes)
• Real-world scenarios and hands-on interactions: accordions, flashcards, and stepped processes built around the topic
• A quick knowledge check to reinforce what you've learned

Access

This course is included in the full Data Literacy Guide (DLG) collection: one purchase gets you all available DLG courses, including any new releases, for a full year, only $99.