Building trust in the digital era: achieving Scotland's aspirations as an ethical digital nation

Annex

The following section and tables have been included as an annex for detailed recommendations under the thematic chapters

Public Awareness of Data Use and Sharing

Education and oversight are key levers when it comes to raising public awareness of data use and sharing. Government, business and civil society organisations all have responsibility to provide citizens with the knowledge and tools required to safely navigate the Internet and digital technology. Likewise, individuals themselves have a responsibility to take up these opportunities. In addition to this, it is recommended that Government strengthen its regulatory and legal controls concerning: its commitment to open data principles; the standards and principles around data use and data sharing; and independent oversight.

Recommendations

Governments & Government Bodies

• Provide all citizens will the knowledge and tools to safely use and navigate the Internet and digital technology
• Enable citizens to easily identify the ownership, and links between, social media and other web-based platforms
• Invest in the relevant technical and legal mechanisms that will build public trust and awareness of data use and transparent
• Commit to open data principles on government data
• Commit to undertaking an audit of automated decision making Create a public register of all targeted advertising by government
• Create an internal review board for digital behaviour change programmes undertaken by the government

Businesses

• Create education programmes to raise awareness with employees and customers on how to safely navigate the Internet and digital technology
• Enable users to easily identify the ownership, and links between, social media and other web-based platforms
• Provide clear and transparent explanations of how data is shared, used and stored, beyond regulatory requirements
• Encourage a culture of awareness for ethical issues and to develop procedures to address how to operate and deliberate in the case of unclear legal guidance
• Ethical, legal and social aspects of cybersecurity should be part of the training of professionals at all levels

Society and Civil Society Organisations

• Raise awareness on how to safely navigate the Internet and digital technology
• Participation in governance and decision-making by citizens and communities

Individuals

• Self-educate before providing sensitive data online

A ‘Green’ Digital Scotland

Once again, education is seen as a key driver to bring us closer to an ethical ‘green’ digital Scotland. This is a shared responsibility across government, business, civil society and individuals. Acknowledging both the advantages of digital innovation in move towards a more sustainable future and the environmental cost of digital will allow all responsible parties to strategise how they can make a difference in this domain. Beyond education, oversight also has its part to play from a policy point of view.

Recommendations

Governments & Government Bodies

• Raise awareness of the negative climate impacts of digital with businesses and citizens
• Invest in renewable energy digital infrastructures, e.g. by making sure new data centres are net-zero
• Ensure a policy environment conducive to renewable energy installations Keep Scottish e-waste in Scotland
• Invest in professional e-waste recycling units
• Mandate purchase of digital products that allow for repair and recycling
• Work with technology companies in Scotland to support efforts to reduce their emissions
• Design and deliver a public awareness campaign of the potential climate risks associated with the use of technology, and how to mitigate these

Businesses

• Reduce the environmental impacts of digital use and the manufacture
• Reduce energy consumption and/or invest in the generation of renewable energy
• Favour low or zero-carbon digital services (cloud computing)
• Minimise use of rare and virgin resources
• Encourage purchase of digital products with the longest warranties
• Encourage purchase of digital products whose design allows for repair and recycling (both for customers and internal operations)
• Minimise irresponsible business practices that encourage addictive online behaviour

Society and Civil Society Organisations

• Encourage the repair of digital devices
• Encourage recycling of digital devices where appropriate

Individuals

• Minimise device upgrades until absolutely necessary
• Ensure old devices are appropriately reused or recycled

Harm Protection when Online

It is essential that oversight is strengthened, and at pace, when trying to combat online harms. This includes creation of independent bodies for oversight purposes, implementation of regulatory standards, legislative steps and increasing policing powers. Communication is also key to enable international liaisons to tackle issues, to allow for transparency and to bring in the voice of the public for a better understanding of how to prevent these harms. Additionally governments and business alike must support individuals in both prevention and seeking redress, with clear reporting protocols in place.

Recommendations

Governments & Government Bodies

• Establish independent oversight of digital data collection and use (nationally or internationally) that can be enforced against unethical practice
• Liaise with international government bodies to ensure this framework can stretch beyond national borders, just like the technology
• Help individuals seek redress from malicious and intentional harms
• Impose regulatory standards that ensure greater transparency about the sources of information online in ways that are easy to verify
• Investigate how stronger age verification checks for child safety could be implemented successfully, through legislation or other routes
• Strengthen public and third sector resources to tackle online harms
• Continue to support businesses in getting the basics of security and data management right

Businesses

• Continue to invest in preventing online hacks and leaks
• Help individuals seek redress from malicious and intentional harms
• Ensure greater transparency about the sources of information online in ways that are easy to verify
• Build in ethical controls on the development and implementation of advertising algorithms
• Have clear and user-friendly reporting procedures for abuse/harassment

Society and Civil Society Organisations

• Support individuals to develop skills to critically evaluate information and its sources, including fact checking and skills training
• Acting on the collective responsibility of civil society on oversight and governance in the digital public sphere

Individuals

• Develop skills to critically evaluate information and its sources, on topics such as online bullying and cybersecurity

Reliable, Representative Data & Technologies Underpinning Algorithmic Decision Making

The weight of recommendations on building trust into algorithmic decision-making is around communication. Businesses and governments need to be able to demonstrate that their algorithms are robust, reliable and meet a set of required standards. Equally, communication is needed in the other direction from individuals and civil society on bad practices to apply pressure to organisations to improve their practices. Oversight is another key tool here, allowing for standards of transparency to be put in place and regulated over.

Recommendations

Governments & Government Bodies

• Implement regulation over the use of unreliable and discriminatory technologies
• Support the development of standards and ensure standards of transparency over algorithmic decision making are met
• Provide routes for users to complain and seek redress

Businesses

• Demonstrate that algorithms are robust and reliable using standards based and auditable processes
• Make clear to users how their data is being used to make decisions about them
• Ensure standards of transparency and accountability are met
• Build in human validation and verification of outputs as standard to development of algorithms as standard to development of algorithms as standard to development of algorithms as standard to development of algorithms
• Provide routes for users to complain and seek redress

Society and Civil Society Organisations

• Call out bad practice and put pressure on organisations to justify the legitimacy of their algorithm-based processes
• Advocate for the necessity and then the fair and just use of algorithms in decision making processes
• Facilitate participation in governance and decision-making by citizens and communities

Individuals

• Highlight and report failures and biases evident in the system
• Be aware of the types of digital interface that could potentially be subject to bias
• Support others in your family and social network

Digital Inclusion

Both education and support are critical to reducing the barriers to digital participation. Governments, civil society and individuals have to work in unison at bridging the divide in digital literacy, particularly to marginalised groups. Businesses also have a role in educating their employees but have a stronger part to play in providing support to their customers, in terms of ensuring that alternative options to digital are available and equitable.

Recommendations

Governments & Government Bodies

• Champion initiatives to ensure that access to digital, data and technology is affordable
• Regulate pricing on network data provision
• Increase the speed and roll out of public education and awareness on the benefits of digital skills, and make sure that school, public and professional education is kept up to date in order to deal with constantly changing risks and opportunities.
• Provide accessible education and training opportunities for digital upskilling
• Ensure that there is a governance framework to support public and private organisations to be meet standards, which require that equal access to public and essential services are maintained. Standards should guarantee that alternative options to digital are always available, without this being a disadvantage in terms of cost, eligibility or quality
• Create a legal framework for the use of online courts that gives clear rules under which conditions the party can ask for online proceedings, or refuse to participate in online proceedings
• Use the experience from the COVID-19 trial to develop an online court platform that ensues fairness to all parties when using it and mitigates biases created by the digital architecture

Businesses

• Businesses providing data, devices and software should take some responsibility to ensure access to their digital services is affordable and accessible to all consumers and that alternatives are provided, via enhanced statutory minimum accessibility requirements
• Implement social corporate responsibility pledges that guarantee that basic (but functional) devices continue to be produced to ensure replacement and upgrade costs are not prohibitive (e.g. for mobile phones)
• Promote digital inclusion internally by upskilling and training employees in digital skills, supporting employees to adapt to hybrid working
• Ensure equal access to services is maintained by guaranteeing alternative options are always available, without this being a disadvantage in terms of cost, eligibility or quality

Society and Civil Society Organisation

• Invest in and organise hubs for the re-distribution of devices that are no longer required
• Volunteer to train or teach others in the community, reflecting on previous learning from existing programmes
• Build on community digital hubs already established

Individuals

• Raise awareness of the benefits of being digitally active, particularly in marginalised groups such as the elderly (poorer)
• Take up digital opportunities where available and feel empowered to decline opportunities

Ethical Limits to Monitoring and Surveillance

Responsibilities with regards to limiting monitoring and surveillance can be segmented between governments and business needing to implement huge amounts of oversight in this area and civil society and individuals having a responsibility on the other end of this around education. At present regulation is scant in this sphere and escalating instances of abuses of power in this area show the need for swift action on implementing regulation. In the meantime, citizens need ways of becoming aware of the risks associated with monitoring and surveillance so that they are empowered to make appropriate choices in their daily lives.

Recommendations

Governments & Government Bodies

• Ensure that regulators are keeping pace with, and anticipating, future digital developments
• Ensure that measures of surveillance and monitoring that are necessary, proportionate and justified by compelling reasons
• Establish an independent governance body or a specialist advocate for citizens to regulate any surveillance and monitoring of the general public, its justification and its proportionality.
• Build public awareness of data collection and use of surveillance technologies
• Ensure that regulations placed on technology companies are fair to their users and wider society, first and foremost, and then fair to the company
• Ensure that surveillance and control does not overly affect the most disadvantaged, those on benefits etc.

Businesses

• Ensure surveillance and monitoring technologies are used in a controlled, transparent way
• Establish regular reviews of surveillance technologies to ensure their use is still necessary and proportionate
• Consult with governments to ensure there is a balance between regulation and service offerings
• Develop and adopt codes of conduct that make a commitment to fair and ethical practices
• Build privacy by design into apps and sites as default
• Ensure highest privacy settings are enabled as the default option

Society and Civil Society Organisations

• Use ‘purchase power’ to demand better from service providers
• Use public voice to ensure that greater levels of surveillance within society do not overstep public expectations

Individuals

• Use ‘purchase power’ to demand better from service providers
• Contribute to discussions ensuring that greater levels of surveillance within society do not overstep public expectations

The Future of Work in a Digital Economy

Both support and education are required to ensure that the workforce is prepared for future developments in the digital economy. Governments and businesses both have a role in developing citizens, as employees, to face the future and that must be done in an accessible and inclusive way. Individuals then have a responsibility to make the most of these opportunities when presented with them.

Recommendations

Governments & Government Bodies

• Maximise economic and development opportunities that digital can offer to Scotland
• Minimise net job losses caused by automation and other digital advances Provide appropriate and accessible upskilling opportunities
• Ensure the education system prepares students for new types of work in the future
• Commit to supporting digital infrastructures that support wellbeing and societal flourishing, such as cultural heritage
• Support the openly licensed digitisation of the past and providing access to this digitised content to all
• Commission an in-depth investigation into non-fungible tokens

Businesses

• Maximise economic and development opportunities that digital can offer to Scotland
• Minimise job losses caused by automation other digital advances
• Manage the transition to digital by retraining and upskilling staff where appropriate

Society and Civil Society Organisations

• Encourage uptake of digital skills training where offered
• Maximise community-driven development opportunities that digital can offer to Scotland

Individuals

• Engage in digital skills training opportunities