As we’ve seen in class, one perspective on data analysis in general (and data visualization in particular) that is generally underappreciated are the unforeseen consequences of technology design, especially as it affect human beings.
In this assignment, you will look critically at your own final project and write a report describing “what could possibly go wrong”. In other words: can your project be used for evil? If so, how?
You will submit a single PDF document named report.pdf with your
analysis.
If you believe your project is sufficiently separate from ethical, privacy, etc. concerns that this assignment does not apply to you, then your assignment, instead, is to choose one paper from the last three years of IEEE VIS and do a similar analysis with that paper: how could that be used for “evil”?
If you have a hard time defining “evil” in your mind, use this proxy: if someone used your project (or the VIS paper) to create something that would embarrass you, if it were to appear at the front page of a newspaper, that probably counts as evil.
The goal here is for you to look critically at the kinds of assumptions we make, and problems we tend to brush aside, when we take a purely-technical approach to research. The content of this report will not influence the grade of your final project, so you are encouraged to be as critical as you are comfortable with.