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Automating inequality : how high-tech tools profile, police, and punish the poor /
The state of Indiana denied one million applications for health care, food stamps, and cash benefits in three years - because a new computer system interpreted any application mistake as "failure to cooperate." In Los Angeles, an algorithm calculates the comparative vulnerability of tens o...
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| Main Author: | |
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| Language: | English |
| Published: |
New York, NY :
St. Martin's Press,
2018.
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| Edition: | First edition. |
| Subjects and Genres: | |
| Online Access: | More Info More Info |
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| Summary: |
The state of Indiana denied one million applications for health care, food stamps, and cash benefits in three years - because a new computer system interpreted any application mistake as "failure to cooperate." In Los Angeles, an algorithm calculates the comparative vulnerability of tens of thousands of homeless people in order to prioritize them for an inadequate pool of housing resources. In Pittsburgh, a child welfare agency uses a statistical model to try to predict which children might be future victims of abuse or neglect. Since the dawn of the digital age, decision making in finance, employment, politics, health care, and human services has undergone revolutionay change. Today, automated systems control which neighborhoods get policed, which families attain resources, and who is investigated for fraud. While we all live under this new regime of data, the most invasive and punitive systems are aimed at the poor. Virginia Eubanks systematically investigates the impacts of data mining, policy algorithms, and predictive risk models on economic inequality and democracy in America. Full of heart-wrenching and eye-opening stories, this deeply researched and passionate book could not be timelier. -- |
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| Physical Description: |
260 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm |
| Bibliography: |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 225-251) and index. |
| ISBN: |
9781250074317 1250074312 1466885963 9781466885967 9781250215789 1250215781 |