Welcome to Algorithmic Prison - Bill Davidow - The Atlantic
▻http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/02/welcome-to-algorithmic-prison/283985
Welcome to Algorithmic Prison
The use of Big Data to to profile citizens is subtly, silently constraining their freedom.
Corporations and government are using information about us in a new – and newly insidious – way. Employing massive data files, much of the information taken from the Internet, they profile us, predict our good or bad character, credit worthiness, behavior, tastes, and spending habits – and take actions accordingly.
As a result, millions of Americans are now virtually incarcerated in algorithmic prisons.
Some can no longer get loans or cash checks. Others are being offered only usurious credit card interest rates. Many have trouble finding employment because of their Internet profiles. Others may have trouble purchasing property, life, and automobile insurance because of algorithmic predictions. Algorithms may select some people for government audits, while leaving others to find themselves undergoing gratuitous and degrading airport screening.