Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-8bhkd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-06T06:52:52.277Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

13 - From Rule of Law to Statute Drafting

Legal Issues for Algorithms in Government Decision-Making

from Part II - Business, Regulations, and Decision-Making with Algorithms

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 October 2020

Get access

Summary

The (un)limited potential of algorithmic decision-making is increasingly embraced by numerous private sector actors, ranging from pharmaceutical to banking, and from transport industries to powerful Internet platforms. The celebratory narratives about the use of big data and machine-learning algorithms by private companies to simulate intelligence, improve society, and even save humanity are common and widespread. The deployment of algorithms to automate decision-making also promises to make governments not only more efficient, but also more accurate and fair. Ranging from welfare and criminal justice, to healthcare, national security, and beyond, governments are increasingly relying on algorithms to automate decision-making – a development which has been met with concern by many activists, academics, and members of the general public.1 Yet, it remains incredibly difficult to evaluate and measure the nature and impact of automated systems, even as empirical research has demonstrated their potential for bias and individual harm.2 These opaque and elusive systems often are not subject to the same accountability or oversight mechanisms as other public actors in our legal systems, which raises questions about their compatibility with fundamental principles of public law. It is thus not surprising that numerous scholars are increasingly calling for more attention to be paid to the use of algorithms in government decision-making.3

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×