Data, Tech & Black Communities

Gig workers are asking to see the algorithms that govern their labor. Their fight has important lessons for creating equitable workplaces for all.

Opaque Algorithmic Management Systems Facilitate Worker Rights Abuses in the Gig Economy Employment and data protection laws are failing to protect workers from unfair & opaque algorithmic management. There is insufficient transparency of the algorithmic management systems used by gig economy employers. Legally required explanations are incomplete, inconsistent, and unreliable. Questionable predictive tools are used to predict 'fraudulent behaviour' of workers. Disproportionate surveillance by g

· ADCU & Worker Info Exchange launch action against Uber for discrimination over use of facial recognition technology known to be error prone with people of colour · Uber uses facial recognition technology provided by Microsoft who have suspended sales to US police forces in the wake of Black Lives Matter protests · ADCU & Worker Info Exchange launch crowdfunding campaign to raise funds for the action In a global first for the gig economy, the App Drivers & Couriers Union (ADCU

Gig workers are asking to see the algorithms that govern their labor. Their fight has important lessons for creating equitable workplaces for all.

TEDxGlasgow 2019 Principal Partner #SCOTLANDISNOW' Everything, from our music tastes and shopping habits to our faces and fingerprints, is up for grabs in the business of big data. But who exactly owns this data? How will it be used? And what impact will this ever-increasing digital footprint have on our lives? These are questions that privacy campaigner, Pippa King, began to ask when she discovered that biometric data from her children was being collected by their school. As it turns out, this isn’t uncommon. Around 80% of schoolchildren will have had their fingerprint scanned by the time they leave school. In this eye-opening talk, she asks, will privacy be an unknown concept for the next generation? Or will we – along with the government, policymakers, and business leaders – take a stand to protect our data privacy? Author - Sleepwalking into a Surveillance State Pippa King campaigns against intrusions to children’s privacy in education. From 1999-2013 schools in the UK had been taking children’s biometric data without consultation or consent from parents. Since Pippa became aware of this she has campaigned relentlessly against schools using children’s biometrics and for parents to have openness and transparency on the use of their children’s data. As a result of lobbying MPs the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 was passed in May 2012 which requires that schools must now gain written parental consent if they wish to store/process a child’s biometric data. She continues to raise awareness of the wider implications on adult society with biometrics and RFID technology, pushing for debate and transparency. Pippa is the author of Biometrics in schools and Against RFID in schools blogs. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx

The NHS AI Lab and @HealthFdn have awarded £1.4 million to 4 projects to address racial and ethnic health inequalities using artificial Announcement here https://www.nhsx.nhs.uk/news/new-artificial-intelligence-projects-funded-to-tackle-health-inequalities/

a new tool from @TheCentricLab to create awareness about how the places we live impact our health

Police officers in South Wales and Gwent are to become the first in the UK to develop and use technology to identify wanted individuals in real time through a new facial recognition app on their mobile phones.

There are fears that robot interviews by webcam that judge candidates on the way they speak will stop well-qualified youngsters from less privileged families getting jobs

Analysis: issues with some gadgets could contribute to poorer outcomes for women and people of colour

Computer algorithms that scan everything from terror watch lists to eviction records spit out flawed tenant screening reports. And almost nobody is watching

The narrow scope of what constitutes a legitimate interest of a controller to re-purpose and monetise customer personal data was clearly re-stated recently by the Dutch data protection authority (the 'AP') when it fined the Royal Dutch Lawn Tennis Association ('KNLTB') €525,000 for unlawfully sellin

Digital, energy and automation giant Schneider Electric was recently named the most sustainable corporation in the world. We find out why it firmly believes in an all-electric, all-digital future. Elsewhere, we hear about the AI advances in the aviation industry.

A large Covid-19 testing provider is being investigated by the UK’s data privacy watchdog over its plans to sell swabs containing customers’ DNA for medical r

A new partnership with GlaxoSmithKline drew intense scrutiny from customers, reflecting eroding public trust in companies' ability to protect private information.

This week Human Rights Watch published a much-needed comment on the EU’s Artificial Intelligence Regulation. As governments increasingly resort to AI systems to administer social security and public services more broadly, there is an ever-greater need to analyse the impact on fundamental rights and the broader public interest.

Yet tax crimes cost the economy nine times more.

What does it mean to be fair?

Technologists must take responsibility for the toxic ideologies that our data sets and algorithms reflect.

The idea of using trusts to improve data governance is relatively new, but it shouldn’t come as a surprise; in a time of waning public trust in mass data collection and use, people are looking to scholarship and legal precedent for new solutions.

A report evaluating the relationship between air pollution and inequality in London in 2019.

The research also found that exposure to nitrogen dioxide has decreased by 20% on average across London since 2016.

Advocates say they speed up queues, but privacy campaigners query whether they are necessary. Facial recognition computers have found an unlikely new niche: scanning the faces of thousands of British pupils in school canteens. On Monday, nine schools in North Ayrshire will start taking payments for school lunches by scanning the faces of pupils, claiming that the new system speeds up queues and is more Covid-secure than the card payments and fingerprint scanners they used previously.

The UK managed to get a data adequacy agreement with the EU. But its planned changes for GDPR could rip this apart

Round-the-clock surveillance of students’ accounts raises tricky privacy concerns. And do they really help keep kids safe?

Just Eat is now in the delivery space for restaurants. But just how does their system work in practice for you, the restaurateur? Here's how ...

‘It’s very important the government proceeds with extreme caution with any broader sharing of data’

Facebook and Amazon are distancing themselves from facial recognition software - so why isn't Uber and TfL?