We are delighted to launch our Data Harm Record, a project led by our co-director Joanna Redden.

The aim of this document is to provide a running record of ‘data harms’, harms that have been caused by uses of big data. The goal is to document and learn from where things have gone wrong. The document compiles the examples of harms that have been detailed in previous research and publications. Each listed example contains a link to the original source.

The Data Harm Record pulls together concrete examples of harm that have been referenced in previous work so that we might gain a better ‘big picture’ appreciation of how people have already been negatively affected by uses of big data. A survey of harms also suggests where things may go wrong in the future and ideally stimulates more debate and interventions into where we may want to change course. The idea is that we can learn a lot by paying attention to where things have gone wrong and by considering data harms in relation to each other.

Please note: This document records harms that have already happened. There is a great deal of research raising concerns about how harm may be caused in the future. Such work is incredibly important, but not a focus of this record.