7 September 2022
AutoCheck workshops on Automated Decision-Making Systems and Discrimination
Understanding causes, recognizing cases, supporting those affected: documents for implementing a workshop.
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AlgorithmWatch is a non-profit research and advocacy organization that is committed to watch, unpack and analyze automated decision-making (ADM) systems and their impact on society.
Open letter: the German government should stand up for a strong ban on biometric surveillance in the Council of EU negotiations regarding the AI Act
AlgorithmWatch and 26 other civil society organizations are calling on the German government to stand up in the negotiations on the AI Act and advocate for a strong ban on biometric surveillance as mirrored in its coalition treaty.
Photo by Niv Singer on Unsplash
The fediverse is growing, but power imbalances might stay
Alternative social network Mastodon, which has no algorithmic timeline and a decentralized structure, is rapidly gaining steam. But the regulatory framework, which was built for billion-dollar companies, could dampen its growth.
Image: Mastodon gGmbH
How researchers are upping their game to audit recommender systems
Recommender systems, such as a social network’s news feed or a streaming service’s recommendations, are notoriously difficult to audit. Despite high hurdles, practitioners from journalism and academia are pushing forward.
Photo by NordWood Themes on Unsplash
AlgorithmWatch is offering 5 fellowships in algorithmic accountability reporting
Fellows will receive €1,200 per month during 6 months and will report on automated decision-making in Europe.
Photo by Etienne Girardet on Unsplash
Visa-free travelers to the EU will undergo “risk” checks from 2023. Who counts as risky remains unclear
Two EU agencies, Frontex and eu-LISA, are developing ETIAS, a new system that automatically assesses the “risk” posed by some travelers. The sorting algorithm will be trained in part with past decisions by border guards.
Photo by Greg Bulla on Unsplash
EU rules for AI have some distance to go
The AI Act and Directive on AI Liability aim to protect fundamental rights, health and safety, but fall short in the current form. An op-ed, published first at Context.
Photo by Chris Henry on Unsplash
Civil society responds to the Council of Europe Treaty on AI
Together with other observer civil society organizations in the Committee on AI in the Council of Europe, AlgorithmWatch stresses the importance of that legal framework on AI based on human rights, democracy, and the rule of law that is currently being elaborated in Strasbourg. We urge the EU not to delay this process in light of the negotiations on its own AI Act currently ongoing in Brussels. The two frameworks have a different purpose and should complement rather than copy-paste each other.
Publications
Read our comprehensive reports, analyses and working papers on the impact and ethical questions of algorithmic decision-making, written in collaboration with our network of researchers and civil society experts. See our publications
Journalistic stories
How does automated decision-making effect our daily lives? Where are the systems applied and what happens when something goes wrong? Read our journalistic investigations on the current use of ADM systems and their consequences. Read our stories
"The scam truck" by jepoirrier is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 
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20 October 2022
Meta is sued for abetting fraud, and they don’t want you to know about it
The Australian consumer commission accuses Meta of helping scammers defraud its users. The scams are global and the legal case could have repercussions elsewhere.
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Read our responses and expert analyses on current political and regulatory developments concerning automated decision-making. Read our positions
17 October 2022
Civil society open letter demands to ensure fundamental rights protections in the Council position on the AI Act
Negotiations in the Council of the EU regarding the AI Act are at full speed. Civil society calls for the Council to correct major shortcomings of their version of the Act which fails to ensure the necessary safeguards against harmful applications of AI systems.
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Upcoming events, campaigns and updates from our team – here is where you get your news about AlgorithmWatch. Visit our blog
Photo by AbsolutVision on Unsplash
21 September 2022
A guide to the Digital Services Act, the EU’s new law to rein in Big Tech
Everything you need to know about the Digital Services Act (DSA), Europe’s new law to make powerful tech platforms like YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram more transparent and accountable for the risks they pose to society.
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Our research projects take a specific look at automated decision-making in certain sectors, ranging from sustainablity, the COVID-19 pandemic, human resources to social media platfroms and public discourse. You can also get involved! Engage and contribute, for example with a data donation! Learn more about our projects
About the project, 1 April 2021
SustAIn: The Sustainability Index for Artificial Intelligence
How sustainable is Artificial Intelligence? At this point in time, we are aware that a lot of energy is needed in the development and application of AI, that so-called click workers classify data sets for training AI systems under very poor working conditions and that these systems quite often reinforce existing patterns of discrimination. In view of an increasing number of AI systems in use, there is an urgent need to discuss how AI can be made more sustainable. This is where our project SustAIn comes in.
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