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Science and Technology Law

Boston University School of Law

Big Data

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Full-Text Articles in Law

Privacy In Pandemic: Law, Technology, And Public Health In The Covid-19 Crisis, Tiffany Li Sep 2020

Privacy In Pandemic: Law, Technology, And Public Health In The Covid-19 Crisis, Tiffany Li

Faculty Scholarship

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused millions of deaths and disastrous consequences around the world, with lasting repercussions for every field of law, including privacy and technology. The unique characteristics of this pandemic have precipitated an increase in use of new technologies, including remote communications platforms, healthcare robots, and medical AI. Public and private actors are using new technologies, like heat sensing, and technologically-influenced programs, like contact tracing, alike in response, leading to a rise in government and corporate surveillance in sectors like healthcare, employment, education, and commerce. Advocates have raised the alarm for privacy and civil liberties violations, but the …


The Scored Society: Due Process For Automated Predictions, Danielle K. Citron Mar 2014

The Scored Society: Due Process For Automated Predictions, Danielle K. Citron

Faculty Scholarship

Big Data is increasingly mined to rank and rate individuals. Predictive algorithms assess whether we are good credit risks, desirable employees, reliable tenants, valuable customers — or deadbeats, shirkers, menaces, and “wastes of time.” Crucial opportunities are on the line, including the ability to obtain loans, work, housing, and insurance. Though automated scoring is pervasive and consequential, it is also opaque and lacking oversight. In one area where regulation does prevail — credit — the law focuses on credit history, not the derivation of scores from data.

Procedural regularity is essential for those stigmatized by “artificially intelligent” scoring systems. The …