Week 9: Big Data to Harm

Guiding Questions

We look at some historic examples of how large-scale data collections have been used to harm vulnerable minorities. Using the controvery around the 2020 US Census data, we consider how modern privacy measures aim to prevent such misuse, the trade-offs these measures introduce, and whether they strike the right balance between protecting privacy and enabling data utility for policymaking.

Required readings

• Seltzer, William and Anderson, Margo (2008). Using Population Data Systems to Target Vulnerable Population Subgroups and Individuals: Issues and Incidents. In Statistical Methods for Human Rights (pp. 273–328). New York: Asher, Janna and Banks, David and Scheuren, Fritz J.. [PDF on Moodle]
• Ruggles, Steven (2024). When Privacy Protection Goes Wrong: How and Why the 2020 Census Confidentiality Program Failed. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 38(2), pp. 201–226.
• Bowen, Claire McKay (2024). Government Data of the People, by the People, for the People: Navigating Citizen Privacy Concerns. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 38(2), pp. 181–200.

Further reading

• Aly, Götz and Roth, Karl Heinz (2004). The Nazi Census: Identification and Control in The Third Reich. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. [PDF on Moodle]
• Tirole, Jean (2021). Digital Dystopia. American Economic Review, 111(6), pp. 2007–48.

Suggested media

• China’s New Tool for Social Control: A Credit Rating for Everything, Wall Street Journal, November 28, 2016.