Discrimination potential seen in 'big data' use

EILEEN SULLIVAN Associated Press Published:


"Big data" is everywhere.




The review, expected to be released within the next week, is the Obama administration's first attempt at addressing the vast landscape of challenges, beyond national security and consumer privacy, posed by technological advancements.



"It was a moment to step back and say, 'Does this change our basic framework or our look at the way we're dealing with records and privacy,'" Podesta said in the interview.


Podesta led the review, along with some of Obama's economic and science advisers. The goal, Podesta said, was to assess whether current laws and policies about privacy are sufficient.

Podesta would not discuss the specific recommendations he will make to Obama. He did mention an unexpected concern that emerged during White House officials' meetings with business leaders and privacy advocates, and merits further examination: how big data could be used to target consumers and lead to discriminatory practices.


"While big data is revolutionizing commerce and government for the better, it is also supercharging the potential for discrimination," said Wade Henderson, president and chief executive officer of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.


"You're essentially being dinged for a job for really arbitrary characteristics," said Chris Calabrese, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union. "Use of this data has a real impact on peoples' lives."


Federal employment laws don't address this nuanced tactic, Calabrese said. Similarly, anti-discrimination laws for housing make it illegal to target customers based on credit reports. But the laws don't address the use of other data points that could group people into clusters based on information gleaned from social media.

For instance, companies sell data amassed from social media sites that clumps people into clusters, such as the "Ethnic Second-City Struggler" category. A bank could target people who posted something on social media about losing a job as a likely candidate for a high-interest loan. The idea is that a person who lost a job may be behind on mortgage payments and might be open to a high-interest loan to help get out of a bind, Calabrese said.




"We've got to be careful that we don't go after the data itself," she said.

Glasglow said the "Ethnic Second-City Struggler" category can be very effective for reaching communities in need, such as for advertising a sale or an offer that provides more affordable services. Glasglow said consumers can report what they believe to be unfair practices to the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

"Let's go after the people engaged in bad practices," she said.

The concept of putting people into categories, or "segmenting," for marketing purposes is not new, said Eric Siegel, an expert in predictive analytics, which is the art of determining what to do with data on behaviors ranging from shopping habits to criminal activity.



It can help communities be more efficient.






"There are certainly gaps in the law," O'Connor said, speaking broadly. "The technology is outpacing regulatory and legislative change."


Associated Press writer Jack Gillum contributed to this report.


Follow Eileen Sullivan on Twitter at www.twitter.com/esullivanap

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