Crisis Text Line, from my perspective

Abstraction: Board member's ethical framework for Crisis Text Line data-sharing controversy

Key points:

• Crisis Text Line shared texter (crisis counseling) data with Loris.ai, a for-profit spin-off, under a scrubbed data agreement; the board ended the agreement after public backlash in January 2022
• The author (founding board member, board chair June 2020–January 2021) voted in favor of the Loris.ai arrangement hoping it would help train more people in crisis communication skills and reduce need for CTL
• Key ethical tensions discussed: consent vs. mission benefit, individual vs. collective good, present vs. future texters, and sustainability of non-profit services
• CTL's data practices included: triage algorithm using early text signals to prioritize those at highest physical risk, using texter data to improve counselor training, and controlled researcher access to scrubbed data
• The author frames "augmentation not automation" as a core board principle — CTL rejected proposals to automate counselor conversations

Connections: Crisis Text Line · Loris AI · AI Ethics · Data Privacy · Tech Ethics

Source: http://www.zephoria.org/thoughts/archives/2022/01/31/crisis-text-line-from-my-perspective.html