Data, Tech & Black Communities

A genealogy of one of the most important datasets in AI.

A key part of insurance company Lemonade's pitch to investors and customers is its ability to disrupt the normally staid insurance industry with artificial intelligence. It touts friendly chatbots like AI Maya and AI Jim, which help customers sign up for policies for things like homeowners' or pet health insurance, and file claims through Lemonade's app. And it has raised hundreds of millions of dollars from public and private market investors, in large part by positioning itself as an AI-powered tool.

The takeaway service may have felt like a lifeline during lockdown, but its ambitious vision will dramatically change the way we eat

Government finally gets rid of pupil nationality and country of birth data years after controversial collection ceased

The development and deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) in all areas of public life have raised many concerns about the harmful consequences on society, in particular the impact on marginalised communities. EDRi's latest report "Beyond Debiasing: Regulating AI and its Inequalities", authored by Agathe Balayn and Dr. Seda Gürses,* argues that policymakers must tackle the root causes of the power imbalances caused by the pervasive use of AI systems. In promoting technical ‘debiasing’ as the main solution to AI driven structural inequality, we risk vastly underestimating the scale of the social, economic and political problems AI systems can inflict.

The Metropolitan Police is buying a new facial recognition system that will supercharge its surveillance technology capabilities

You: What’s the 1️⃣ EdTech story that all should know ?Me: One Laptop Per Child (OLPC)You: Why ?Me: Many have heard of it, few know the details of it’s shocking failure & it is a great example of what I call:“The iceberg theory of EdTech”But its start was full of promise… pic.twitter.com/1bF2LenPJ6— Gaurav Singh (@gauravsingh961) September 16, 2021

Computers were supposed to reduce office labor. They accomplished the opposite

The U.K. government has terminated a controversial data-sharing agreement with U.S. tech firm Palantir following criticism from privacy campaigners.

The Youth Justice Board (YJB) and the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC) have agreed to share information on the ethnicity of children in contact with the youth justice system.

Carriers know where you are every time your phone reconnects to the cell network—but with Pretty Good Phone Privacy, they wouldn’t have to.

The vast majority of victims weren’t even T-Mobile customers. Now their information is for sale on the dark web.

Information and support for parents to help your child's education and wellbeing this summer.

Exclusive: Femi Adenuga couldn’t travel for work or attend his mother’s funeral, and says his case ‘smacks of racism’

Company denies waiting staff claim that service pay is about to be redistributed to kitchen staff and managers

The pandemic prompted a surge in the use of workplace surveillance programs – and they’re not going away any time soon

Workers on rapid delivery service see pay slashed as company’s profits skyrocket

In the past, a little ambiguity in entertainment contracts wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but Disney's reaction to Scarlett Johansson has lawyers less willing to leave things between the lines.

Apart from this, Zomato has employed a way that potentially favors workers who are willing to spend more money out of their pocket.

ODI maps work being undertaken on equality data across the UK government

Even as the Ontarian and Canadian governments are boldly considering digital reforms to meet their citizens’ needs, there is a risk that this work is undermining citizen trust, not bolstering it. “We know very little about what Canadians actually want, and are comfortable with, when it comes to governments’ use of data and technology,” says […]

A sweeping AI has become central to how the US handles the opioid crisis. It may only be making the crisis worse. With the creeping privatisation of our National Health Services, could the U.K. see similar opaque algorithms creating barriers here?

News, analysis and comment from the Financial Times, the worldʼs leading global business publication

Good interoperability policy should put the user front and center: data sharing must only happen with a user’s opt-in consent, and only for purposes that directly benefit the user.

The National Data Strategy Why you should care and what you can do Rachel Coldicutt October 2020

What do I mean by a cock-up? Well, @CDEIUK more tactfully call them “faulty or biased systems”. They include: 📌 Black women being twice as likely to have their passport photos rejected by the Home Office. 📌 The A-level saga 📌 The London Gangs Matrix— Rachel Coldicutt (@rachelcoldicutt) November 26, 2020

The MPs’ report muddles the term ‘white privilege’ and is part of a campaign to keep people angry at the wrong target, says David Gillborn of the University of Birmingham