Ethical framework for a fair, human-centric data economy

European Union (EU) has been the forerunner and visionary of data protection and privacy. However, the data economy is global business where the values of EU drives are not yet fulfilled or understood. Sitra’s IHAN project is aiming to make a difference by creating the foundation for a fair data economy by treating the individuals as key stakeholders.

In this study by the University of Turku, the results of two earlier surveys by Sitra were analysed and compared with the value-related research. Sitra conducted the surveys earlier in four countries to assess individuals’ values, attitudes and actions associated with the data economy as well as companies’ views on business opportunities created by the sharing of data.

The goal of this report is to seek the values of citizens considering the fair data economy. The research is based on the previous value research by Schwartz and Hofstede. This is complemented with a survey on citizens (n=8004) – focusing on fair data use – that was conducted for Sitra by Kantar TNS Ltd in the four member states of EU: Finland, France, Germany and the Netherlands. The survey on companies conducted for Sitra by Innolink is based on 1667 responses in the same countries. The answers of two open questions, that were part of the survey, were used as empirical material for our analysis. Thematic analysis was used to find values that should be considered when developing fair human-centric data economy.