Three things to know:
- When tech companies like Google promise not to share the health data they receive from wearable devices, like Fitbit, with advertisers, it distracts from the actuality that Google isn’t dependent on individual data. What it really wants is the lucrative predictions it can make on a users’ health outcomes. Google profits off its Fitbit acquisition by aggregating health outcomes from users who did not opt-out of sharing their data, and by using aggregated data to predict health outcomes, which is where targeted ad possibilities come into play, Mr. Tisne said.
- Bills have been introduced to halt these practices. In 2019, Sens. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., introduced the Algorithmic Accountability Act, which would have required firms to assess algorithms for bias or discrimination and stalled in Congress. Instead, it may be better to make laws regulating specific industries, like healthcare, where algorithm bias has been exacerbated by the pandemic’s effects on minority populations, he said.
- Three elements are needed for bills introduced to ensure accountability: transparency about when and where automated decisions take place and how they affect people; the public’s right to offer input and call on those in authority to justify their decision; and the ability to enforce sanctions. Lawmakers will also need to discern what defines a high-risk algorithm and what a higher level of scrutiny will be.
