President Joe Biden's principal telecom adviser has launched an inquiry into the impact of data collection, storage and use on the civil rights of marginalized communities.
As part of that inquiry, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) on Wednesday (January 18) asked for public comment on how “the ways in which firms collect, share and use data” — including for targeted online advertising — “can exacerbate existing structural inequities.”
Those ways can include online job ads that target some groups but ignore others, the NTIA said in its Privacy, Equity, and Civil Rights Request for Comment, as well as the inequitable impact of data breaches on low-income communities and apps that could make users more subject to discrimination (for example, an LGBTQ dating app that reveals details about someone's movements).
The comments will inform a report on whether and how such data practices can negatively affect marginalized communities and how existing civil rights or privacy laws can be used to address those harms and what new privacy protection proposals could be adopted.
The inquiry follows Biden’s op-ed in The Wall Street Journal calling for “robust federal protections for Americans’ privacy” and an end to “discriminatory algorithmic decision-making," NTIA said.
“Everyone in America deserves strong privacy protections,” NTIA administrator Alan Davidson said in announcing the inquiry. “This is especially important for marginalized communities, where the consequences of privacy invasions can be more starkly felt. Data collection and sharing creates the risk of new digital discrimination replicating previous forms of profiling, redlining and exclusion.” ▪️
