The purpose of this paper is to initiate discussion about surgeons as stakeholders in relation to the ethical, legal, and social issues arising from secondary use of digital data generated during surgery following arguments put forward in a symposium held at the 31st Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Computer Aided Surgery held in June 2022 in Tokyo. These digital data include video recordings of the endoscopic and surgical fields, log data collected during maneuvers performed using robotic-assisted surgical systems, and log data showing operator input when using medical devices in the operating room.

  Patients’ rights and ethical, legal, and social issues related to medical data when patients are the stakeholders have been well addressed but not those pertaining to surgeons. Digital data generated during a surgical procedure contain information that reflects the operator’s skills and expertise. Artificial intelligence developed from these data would potentially threaten the careers and interests of surgeons. The legal status of surgeons in relation to collection, use, and distribution of such data is not well covered in contracts between hospitals and data providers, copyright law, or any other applicable laws. It is important to reach an agreement between the stakeholders of such data and develop a guideline that balances utilization of these data and protection of surgeons’ rights, benefits, and dignity as stakeholders.