➡ From Child Welfare Information Gateway
US: When the Government Rules by Software, Citizens are Left in the Dark
Wired – August 17, 2017
Some scholars and activists want governments to reveal the code behind their algorithms, a tough ask because they are often commercial products. Goodman thinks it’s more urgent that the public knows how an algorithm was chosen, developed, and tested-for example how sensitive it is to false positives and negatives. That’s no break from the past, she argues, because citizens have always been able to ask for information about how new policy was devised and implemented. Some municipalities were more forthcoming. Allegheny County in Pennsylvania produced a report describing the development and testing of an algorithm that helps child-welfare workers decide whether to formally investigate new reports of child maltreatment, for example.
https://www.wired.com/story/when-government-rules-by-software-citizens-are-left-in-the-dark/