A poster and handbook that walk a project team through the ethical and practical questions of a data or AI project and help you document the choices you make.
| Full name | De Ethische Data Assistent (Data Ethics Decision Aid) |
| Website | https:// |
| Developed by | Data School, Utrecht University, Mirko Tobias Schäfer, Aline Franzke |
| Type | Canvas: Poster with handbook, for an in-person or online workshop |
| Lifecycle phase | Design, Development |
| FUTURE-AI | General recommendations, Traceability |
| For | AI developers, Policy makers and managers |
| Time needed | 3-4 hours |
| Group size | 4-8 per poster |
| Facilitation | Facilitator recommended |
| Skills needed | none |
| Cost | Free |
| Languages | Dutch, English, German, Greek, Finnish |
| Maturity | Established |
| Licence | Open access (free to download); no licence stated, © Data School, Utrecht University |
What it is¶
DEDA is a large poster with a sequence of questions on technical and societal topics such as data sources, algorithms, anonymisation, access and reuse, privacy, bias and transparent communication, supported by a handbook that explains each question. A mixed team works through the poster in a session around a real project and ends with written conclusions that can feed into the next project steps. You can run it yourself, ask Utrecht University’s Data School to moderate, or use the online DEDA Remote version. The toolkit was substantially revised in 2026 to cover generative AI and recent legislation.
Where to use it in The ELSA Way¶
Data strategy › Data minimisation: DEDA asks which data you collect and why, so your team has to justify each data source against the project’s purpose before collecting it.
Ethical review and approval › Application-specific ethical issues: Working through the poster as a team helps you spot ethical issues such as bias, privacy and transparency early and leaves a written record of how you dealt with them.
References¶
Franzke AS, Muis I, Schäfer MT. Data Ethics Decision Aid (DEDA): a dialogical framework for ethical inquiry of AI and data projects in the Netherlands. Ethics Inf Technol. 2021;23(3):551-567. Franzke et al. (2021)
Related tools¶
Data Ethics Canvas: A one-page canvas of questions that helps you spot and manage the ethical issues of a project that collects, shares or uses data, at the start and as the project evolves.
IAMA: A structured discussion guide that helps a public organisation decide whether and how to use an algorithm, with a step-by-step check of its effects on fundamental rights.
Algoritmekader: A Dutch government website that brings together the legal requirements, recommended measures and supporting tools for responsible use of algorithms and AI, organised by lifecycle phase, role and topic.
Also listed in: RAAIT toolbox.
- Franzke, A. S., Muis, I., & Schäfer, M. T. (2021). Data Ethics Decision Aid (DEDA): a dialogical framework for ethical inquiry of AI and data projects in the Netherlands. Ethics and Information Technology, 23(3), 551–567. 10.1007/s10676-020-09577-5