What is the theoretical basis of Eki’Learning?

All Eki’Learning content is based on the Ekitia Ethical Charter for Data Use.

Introduction - Ethical Charter

During the summer of 2019, Ekitia (formerly Occitanie Data) undertook the development of an Ethical Charter for Data Use, which forms part of a trust framework aimed at promoting data sharing between public and private entities.

The first version of the charter, the result of collaboration between Ekitia and the BIOETHICS research team (a team specialising in ethical issues related to health innovations and based at Toulouse III Paul Sabatier University and INSERM), was published in April 2020 following consultation with our founding members.

To ensure that the Charter’s content remains consistent with technological, legal, and societal developments affecting data use, as well as stakeholder expectations, it is intended to be updated regularly. To this end, EKITIA organised co-construction workshops in the summer of 2020, gathering feedback from sector experts in mobility, energy, health, employment and training, the environment, and agriculture on the first version in order to identify gaps and areas for improvement. Additionally, using the same methodology, several citizen workshops were organised in 2023, immersing participants in forward-looking thematic scenarios that raise ethical issues.

At the end of each series of co-construction workshops, any concerns raised by stakeholders and citizens that are not already covered by the Charter are incorporated into it, thereby contributing to its continuous improvement. The most recent version of the Charter, dated December 2023, is available to download below. Interested parties will also find a presentation of the relevant legal framework for data use, a document explaining how to apply the Charter, a simplified version of the Charter and the methodology used to develop it.

We aim to involve as many people as possible in the co-construction of this Charter and therefore encourage its dissemination and sharing (in accordance with the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (Ekitia citation) - No Commercial Use - No Modification 4.0 International licence). Those who wish to contribute are invited to complete the form below.

Why this Charter?

The development of the data economy is full of promises. If these promises are to be fulfilled, an ethical framework must be established. Otherwise, infringements of privacy and the interests of individuals, society and the environment could multiply, with the risk of a rejection of the technologies and services associated with data processing and communication.

This Charter defines useful ethical principles for all types of data use. On the one hand, it concerns both the use of personal data1 and the use of non-personal data and, on the other hand, its principles concern all sectors of activity.

We believe that it is useful to consider the ethical issues linked to data in a global manner, i.e. to deal with both those linked to personal data and those linked to non-personal data, particularly because the boundary between these two “categories” of data is becoming increasingly porous (hereafter, these two types of data will be grouped together under the term “Data”). Although it applies foremost to Data held, shared or pooled between Signatories, it is designed so that any interested organisation - operating at local, national, European or international level - can make it its own and adapt it to its uses of Data.

As soon as the first version of the Charter was published in April 2020, Ekitia affirmed the willingness to involve professional stakeholders as well as citizens in the development of its content. After having organised co-construction workshops with professionals, aiming to compare the Charter’s principles with the ethical issues raised in their different sectors of activity (health, mobility, environment, energy, employment and training, agriculture), Ekitia organised co-construction workshops with citizens at the beginning of 2023, promoting participatory democracy and to ensure that its content was consistent with their concerns. The present version of the Charter includes the feedback from these two series of workshops.

The Charter is updated regularly to integrate feedback from such workshops, as well as to adapt to technological, legal and societal evolutions related to Data use. At the same time, a form for contributing to the development of the Charter is available on our website (https://www.ekitia.fr/) so that anyone interested can send us their ideas.

This Charter has three objectives:

  • To develop a responsible economy, offering innovative services and contributing to the general interest,

  • To establish an ethical and sovereign framework of trust to govern Data use,

  • To support and organise the digital transition in a way that is compatible with the ecological transition.

Nature of the Charter

Due to its ethical nature, this Charter is not legally binding. It defines the principles towards which Signatories must strive in order to process their Data, collaboratively or not, in complete confidence. All the members of Ekitia must commit to respect this Charter failing not to be accepted.

1 For example, economic data, meteorological data, geographical data, mobility data, energy data, environmental data, infrastructure data, etc.

Scope of the Charter

This Charter is in line with the European Union’s (EU) data strategy2. This strategy is broken down into several structuring legal and technical initiatives which are taken into account in the content of the Charter:

  • The European Data Governance Act3, which defines the processes and structures designed to facilitate the sharing of Data,

  • The Data Act4, which sets out the rights and conditions for the use of data held by the private sector;

  • The creation of common European sectoral data spaces subject to specific governance rules5,

  • The development of technical standards for the interoperability of Data and infrastructures.

Finally, in view of the recent and massive development of the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in our society for both personal and professional purposes, it should be pointed out that this Ethical Charter can also be a useful tool to learn more about the specific ethical issues raised by its use. Ekitia is therefore careful to ensure that the content of the Charter is in adequacy with the ethical and legal framework currently being drawn up for the design, development, deployment and use of AI systems.

In the specific case of personal data, the framework of EU Regulation 2016/679 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, of 27 April 2016 (hereinafter “GDPR”) and, in France, the framework laid down by the Loi Informatique et Libertés (hereinafter “LIL”, adopted in 1978 and revised several times since, the latest version having come into force on 1srt June 2019), naturally apply to all Signatories. In addition, the purpose of this Charter is to set out ethical principles to govern and guide the use of all types of Data. In any event, these principles must not be interpreted in such a way as to reduce the scope, or even cancel, the application of the legal provisions applicable to the Signatories.

The values embodied by the Charter

The ethical principles contained in this Charter reflect three main values:

  • TRUST, to ensure that Data is used in ways that respect people and society;

  • RESPONSIBLE RESEARCH AND INNOVATION, to promote the creation of innovative services in the interest of citizens and in line with the Sustainable Development Goals defined by the United Nations6,

  • DEVELOPMENT OF A FAIR DATA ECONOMY, allowing an equitable distribution of value between each party having contributed to the realisation of a Data-based project.

The ethical principles set out below are not ranked in order of importance: they form a coherent whole which must be interpreted appropriately and constructively. In this sense, the Charter promotes the application of an ethical approach right from the design stage and throughout the life cycle of projects involving Data processing. This ethical approach is well defined by the French National Steering Committe on Digital Ethics (Comité National Pilote d’Éthique pour le Numérique), which reminds in one of its opinion that “even if each of the principles is desirable, any concrete situation may give rise to tensions between them [for example, between sustainable innovation and explicability, between benevolence and protection of privacy…]. Decisions must therefore be taken on a case-by- case basis, taking into account the context of design and use, while respecting the principle of proportionality and fundamental rights. In each specific case, the deliberation must be based on the objectives sought but also on the technical constraints, and on consideration of the interests of users in the short or long term”7.

The Ethical Charter For Data Use is accessible here.

2 Communication from the European Commission, COM(2020)66 “A European Data Strategy”, 19 February 2020.

3 Regulation 2022/868 of 30 May 2022 on European data governance, published in the Official Journal of the EU on 3 June 2022.

4 Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning harmonised rules on fairness in access to and use of data, amending Regulation (EU) 2017/2394 and Directive (EU) 2020/1828, as amended on 15 November 2023 (PE-CONS 49/23) 2017/2394 et la directive (UE) 2020/1828, dans sa version du 15 novembre 2023 (PE-CONS 49/23)

5 European Commission Working Document SWD(2022)45 “Commission Staff Working Document on Common European Data Spaces”, 23 February 2022

6 To find out more about the 17 Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations for 2030: https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/fr/objectifs-de-developpement-durable/

7 CNPEN Opinion No. 3, “Conversational agents: ethical issues”, adopted on 15 September 2021