Enterprises, corporate businesses, governments, and workers are exploring new methods to remain operational amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Nationwide lockdowns, stay-at-home orders, border closures, and other safeguarding measures to contain the virus have made the working environment more complex than ever. Businesses are relying on technology solutions based upon artificial intelligence (AI) and data to formulate work processes that can function efficiently in the new normal. At the same time, government authorities and law enforcement agencies are depending upon contact-tracing technologies to preserve public safety while fighting against the deadly virus.

Some authorities have used cameras with facial recognition functionality to identify and track people traveling from an affected area. Similarly, police in Spain have implemented technology to impose stay-at-home orders with smart use of drones for patrolling and broadcasting important information to the public. At Hong Kong airports, people traveling from different regions of the world are required to wear monitoring bracelets that track their quarantine days and alert the respective authorities whenever they leave their houses. Likewise, a surveillance company in the United States has built AI-enabled thermal cameras capable of detecting fevers. Meanwhile, at Thailand airports, border officers are already carrying out trials on a biometric screen system with the help of fever-detecting cameras.

Such data-driven approaches, when misused, can raise human rights concerns sabotaging peoples trust in their government.

In a time of crisis, we should tread this technology with extreme caution only using it in a limited capacity with proper oversight. Bruce Schneier, a renowned American cryptographer and computer security professional, remarked, "data is the pollution problem of the information age and protecting privacy is the environmental challenge."

More often than not, companies constitute their data governance practices that lay the foundation for data management and quality control. Right now, many organizations are creating new data and technology principles that help them function in the changing business ecosystem while safeguarding confidential data of all stakeholders. Companies that do not have a concrete set of guidelines risk mishandling data and violating privacy.

Companies need to start defining transparent and clear data usage guidelines helping build a trustworthy reputation among employees, business partners, customers, and other stakeholders. Moreover, the companies should make sure that these guidelines and policies are applicable to both in-house development services as well as external development services.

With AI and data being used in abundance, it is essential to adopt ethical principles with proper planning. When you frame policies without figuring out all outcomes of AI-based solutions, there will be a gap between your practice and policies. So, before implementing AI in your business system or clients solution, you should evaluate existing policies and add relevant policies about the use and effect of AI and data.

Governments and companies that are collecting COVID-19 data to contain the spread must ensure that the same data is not used for other purposes. It should be meant for public health motives only, and organizations should include it as a mandatory AI principle in their policies.

It would not be the best strategy to invest in all AI and data solutions only as a response to the pandemic. Instead, companies need to make calculated decisions about buying and implementing only the solutions they need and collecting the relevant data. There is no doubt that the advanced applications of AI are compelling, but companies shouldnt attempt to implement these at the cost of usability and reliability.

Companies should similarly prioritize applications with long-lasting results rather than the ones with short-term benefits. A strategic approach in implementing new tech solutions based on AI will help you better understand data protection and privacy concerns. Eventually, there will be better execution with more transparency and clarity about the responsible use of AI and data across the organization.

To fight this global pandemic, government authorities and law enforcement agencies from different parts of the world need to collaborate with each other. This can be achieved if communities and societies share data with transparency, adhere to each others usage policies, and use it responsibly for the good of the society.

Businesses must examine their vendor agreements to understand how data and technology is used and whether it violates your companys Ethics practices.. You must ask about their development policies, practices, data protection, and privacy guidelines. This will help you explain your terms and ask for the changes in the agreements accordingly.

It has become essential to track individuals to curb the spread of COVID-19. The United Kingdom, Italy, Austria, and Belgium are already studying the movement of people from one place to another as groups. It has been done by keeping the data anonymous. But as Dr Dawn Song, Professor at UC Berkeley and CEO and Founder of Oasis Labs, said in her keynote at the Responsible Data Summit, an event held in July 2020 with attendees including Turing Award Winners, Fortune 500 industry leaders and other privacy thought leaders and advocates, using anonymization doesnt adequately protect user privacy. She reasoned that, for example, it is possible to extract information about specific individuals from an anonymized mobile phone location dataset. Thus companies should instead invest in advanced privacy techniques such as secure computing and differential privacy to ensure that identified data remains anonymous and private.

AI is a powerful tool: one that can redefine our culture, topple oppressive governments, and in this case, help the world tackle a pandemic. It has become even more important than ever to understand how risky AI can be when it is used irresponsibly. Thus, in order to ensure proper and responsible use of data and AI we must first clearly define the fundamental digital rights of individuals, the principles to follow as a society, and the laws we must enforce as a collection of nations.

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Responsible Data And AI In The Time Of Pandemic And Crisis - Forbes