Bias and Biometrics: Regulating Corporate Responsibility and New Technologies to Protect Rights

Authors

Erika George, Boston University School of LawFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2022

ISSN

2325-2235

Publisher

University of Notre Dame Law School

Language

en-US

Abstract

A growing body of literature has documented the ways in which algorithms and new technology are being deployed in ways that discriminate and violate human rights. The regulatory environment is still evolving, but not as rapidly as new technologies are being introduced by private corporations and implemented in public settings. Governments are using AI in immigration and asylum determinations and law enforcement, arenas where racism and xenophobia can often arise. In the aftermath of the racial justice uprisings following the murder of George Floyd, some technology firms pledged to reconsider providing surveillance technology to police without protections in place. This essay explains algorithmic discrimination, examines emerging international and comparative legal and public policy initiatives to regulate AI and evaluates private sector voluntary guidelines intended to regulate the use of technology to respect human rights.

There is a growing awareness of what researchers at the intersection of critical race theory (CRT) and science and technology studies (STS) have identified as "algorithmic discrimination."¹ Avoiding and addressing bias in the ways new technologies are designed and deployed and adopting rights-respecting approaches have yet to gain significant traction in certain sectors of the tech community. To reduce the adverse impact of new technologies on disfavored populations subjected to discrimination, interdisciplinary approaches to identifying and addressing injustice will be essential. I propose that: (1) emerging regulatory frameworks be crafted consistent with the procedural guidance articulated in the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights; and (2) efforts to diversify decision-making and sensitize those responsible for design in the technology sector to the potential human rights risks presented by technology products be strengthened.

Recommended Citation

Erika George, Bias and Biometrics: Regulating Corporate Responsibility and New Technologies to Protect Rights , in 12 Notre Dame Journal of International, Comparative, and Human Rights Law 1 (2022).
Available at: https://scholarship.law.bu.edu/faculty_scholarship/3837