Testimony on Oversight and Regulation of Automated Decision Systems

The NYCLU submitted testimony before the New York City Council Committee on Technology regarding the oversight and regulation of Automated decision systems ("ADS") in employment and hiring.

Automated decision systems – software tools or processes that automate, replace, or aid human decision-making – are widely used to administer services, allocate resources, and make inferences about individuals, groups, or places. Whether across government agencies or in private businesses, their ubiquity and opaque deployment risk severely undermining the civil, human, and privacy rights of New Yorkers. Especially where New Yorker’s fundamental rights are at stake – such as in welfare, education, employment, housing, health care, the family regulation (or child welfare) system, or the criminal legal system, these technologies all too often replicate and amplify bias, discrimination, and harm towards populations who have been and continue to be disproportionately impacted by bias and discrimination.