Upon reading he introduction to Virginia Eubanks' "Automating Equality", the story she shared about being targeted by her insurance companies red-flag algorithm brought into context the disparities in digital tracking and automated decision making. Her family was targeted due to the fact that the transactions seemed fraudulent in accordance to their socio-economic status. It is really interesting to see the way in which even technology is equipped with the same economic and racial biases that are currently present in society. The political realm is so stranger to discrimination based on race or socio-economic background. In a Wired article titled "A Dead-Simple Algorithm Reveals the True Toll of Voter ID Laws", it uncovered some of the issues with tracking voter ID records. The study found that "3.6 percent of registered white voters had no match in any state or federal ID database. By contrast, 7.5 percent of black registered voters were missing from those databases." This study reiterates Virginia Eubanks' notion that digital tracking is essentially targeting minority groups and and reg flagging their data, ultimately removing them from the system and further complicating their lives.
An issue that is prevalent in our society right now is that of police brutality. There have been numerous cases in the US in the last few years in which minority groups, particularly black men, have been murdered by police without proper reason for such violence. There has been lots of talk about requiring police officers to acquire technologies such as cameras to hold them accountable for any malpractice on their behalf. I believe proper surveillance of police officers while they are on duty is essential to prevent an abuse of power and to protect minority groups.
https://www.wired.com/story/voter-id-law-algorithm/
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