Right Action

Right Action involves some precepts, such as sexual behavior, which are beyond the scope of duties of the professional data analyst (at least I think so - if your experience is different you are welcome to share). But other precepts are relevant "to abstain from harming sentient beings, especially doing harm intentionally or delinquently; to abstain from taking what is not given, which includes stealing, robbery, fraud, deceitfulness, and dishonesty". adapted from The Bigview

Like Right Speech, we can also see this as building upon the concepts discussed in Right Vision. In work involving the public good, we are often called upon to balance the needs of society as a whole versus the needs of the individuals in society. In actions involving direct physical intervention with an individual, such as medical treatment, the harms or negative consequences are expected to be discussed, but in interventions that are less intrusive or are not aimed at specific individuals the quantification and discussion of harms, intended or unintended, is too often minimized. In order to make informed judgments and decisions, we should be prepared to openly investigate and present all the effects of a program, policy or intervention, not only the those that are most directly related to desired outcomes.

In thinking about taking what is not given, in addition the more obvious interpretations, with respect to data acquisition and analysis, we should always be striving towards appropriate interpretations of ownership. From the extreme examples such as Henrietta Lacks to more insidious examples such as not making analyses available to subjects who provided the data (most community members do not have access to medical libraries, for example), there are many opportunities to learn and continue to evolve.