The Scottish Government has published ethical guidance to direct the use of public sector data, by private, public, and third party organisations, based on a panel of 25 randomly-selected people from across Scotland.

Selection for the panel was randomised, and included people with no previous background knowledge in data protection or privacy, aiming to get a more rounded understanding of how the general public would feel about the use of public sector data.

The panel, co-managed by Sciencewise and designed by Ipsos and the University of Edinburgh, was given an overview of past government projects using public data, including during the COVID pandemic, and more recently, their work with displaced Ukrainian people.

Panelists also looked into current and future projects dealing with public sector data.

Following a set of presentations from experts, learning about the general data protection issues, and group discussions, the government compiled a report detailing the ethical guidelines set by the group.

In general, the panel of 25 random Scottish residents found that they generally trusted the public sector’s use of data.

This trust was linked to the understanding that the use of data by the public sector should have benefits for society, and that it would follow a set of rules and regulations set out for its use, and be held accountable for any misuse. They also wanted to be assured that ethical principles alongside existing legal frameworks would be followed.

Participants also wanted the use of data by the public sector to have a clearly defined purpose and scope, with transparency and openness on how and why the data is used.

The panel also said that the use of data would only be acceptable to them if there was a clear public benefit.

Data quality was also important, with participants stressing the importance of data-driven decisions being made with up-to-date and accurate information.

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The context for the need to use data influenced how participants felt, specifically if it was an emergency situation or not. In emergency situations – COVID 19 was used as an example – panelists appreciated the need for leniency on some of the ethical guidelines, as long as basic principles were followed.

Avoiding harm was also a top priority, specifically for the protection of marginalised groups and individual privacy.

Holding those using public data accountable was also important to panelists, who thought there should be a body responsible for overseeing its use.

Other stipulations the panelists argued for was that data was not only used for profitable reasons, and that data is not shared beyond the agreed organisations.

The panel also gave its support to future public engagement efforts to determine the ethical principles government should follow when using public data.