MENTAL MODEL · M6743

PAPA

DecideHigh supportDecision Science

Included

Updated 2026-08-08

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INTRODUCTION

English translation pending.

CORE DEFINITION

PAPA is a framework proposed by Richard Mason identifying four ethical issues raised by information systems. Privacy concerns what information about a person is collected and who controls it. Accuracy concerns whether the information held is correct and how errors are corrected. Property concerns who owns information and who receives the value it generates. Accessibility concerns who can obtain information and what is required to get it. The framework's premise is that technical design decisions allocate these four goods, so ethical questions are settled by design rather than external to it.

SCAFFOLDING EFFECT

psychology

Reduce cognitive load

- Use privacy audit: list what data is collected, whether consent was given, and who can see it. - Use accuracy check: identify how incorrect data enters and how it can be corrected. - Use access review: ask which groups are excluded or disadvantaged by how the system is designed.

anchor

Anchor fast decisions

Every information system makes allocation decisions, but they are made implicitly through design choices, so the ethical dimension never enters the discussion. Running the four categories explicitly converts those implicit allocations into visible questions with named stakeholders. Because the four concerns interact, attending to only one produces characteristic failures: strong privacy with poor accuracy leaves people unable to correct wrong records about them, and accurate data with restricted access entrenches existing advantage. Naming all four keeps the trade-offs in view.

MINIMUM ACTION

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Practice this model in one real situation:

Before design or deployment, walk through the four categories in order. 2. For privacy, list what is collected and whether consent was obtained. 3. For accuracy, describe how errors are detected and corrected. 4. For property, state who owns the data and who gains from it. 5. For accessibility, identify who is excluded and how to reduce that.

Check to track your progress (stored locally)

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Source support: Explicit

link
en.wikipedia.orghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PapaZH · Explicit
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