Center for Democracy & Technology

CDT’s Amy Winecoff & Miranda Bogen discuss an essential, yet often overlooked, tool in AI governance - comprehensive documentation. Documentation enables practitioners to identify & address potential failure modes proactively. Dive deeper into how comprehensive documentation can transform AI risk management and governance. Discover the importance of empirical evaluations & evidence-based practices in shaping effective AI documentation standards. https://lnkd.in/eX2fve5g

Privacy laws aimed at protecting consumers can inadvertently undermine the ability of schools to carry out core educational functions. A brief from CDT explores this issue in depth. Privacy is crucial, but poorly designed consumer laws could severely disrupt how schools operate and deliver education. Policymakers must thoughtfully account for the education sector's unique data needs. https://lnkd.in/eyDbp23d

Given the potential harms that can stem from government use of AI, we are so pleased about the launch of TechTonic Justice, a critical partner in the work to bring AI and algorithmic justice to low-income and disabled communities. https://lnkd.in/eni_UaqY CDT's Elizabeth Laird in the The Washington Post on the launch of TechTonic Justice's new report: “The lack of transparency around whether and how AI is used in our daily lives creates an environment in which harm can remain undiscovered and unchecked.” https://lnkd.in/dce8nC-C TechTonic Justice’ s“report takes a much-needed step toward shining a light on the impact of AI by quantifying its prevalence in the ways that matter most — how it affects the lives and opportunities of everyday people, for better and for worse.” https://lnkd.in/ebnKxcaX

ICYMI: CDT joined the Sports Fans Coalition, the American Antitrust Institute, the American Economic Liberties Project, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Open Markets Institute, the National Consumers League, and Public Knowledge in an amicus brief. The brief supports the upholding a preliminary injunction against a joint venture among Disney, Fox, and Warner Brothers Discovery in FuboTV v. The Walt Disney Company et al. https://lnkd.in/eBazN6sE

CDT's Aliya Bhatia writes an op-ed for The Wire advocating for tech companies to better represent language diversity in the development & testing of #AI systems for Indian users. Bhatia: “By failing to engage with language speakers and local experts, companies can replicate and even scale Anglocentric assumptions.“ https://lnkd.in/du9p_jCA

🚨NEW RESEARCH: Livestreaming is transforming online interaction, enabling real-time sharing of video and audio worldwide. While it fosters creativity and community, it also raises concerns about misuse, including the facilitation of child sexual exploitation and abuse (CSEA). Platforms face unique challenges in combating CSEA on livestreaming services. Unlike static content, live streams can’t easily be matched to known abuse material using hash databases. Instead, platforms rely on predictive models, which can be flawed and resource-intensive. CDT's latest report, supported by Safe Online Fund, examines how platforms and safety tech vendors are addressing CSEA in livestreaming, exploring tools like: 🔹 Content analysis for live video & audio 🔹 Metadata & behavioral profiling 🔹 Design interventions to deter abuse The report also delves into privacy and human rights implications of these tools. Transparency, bias, and unintended impacts on users must be carefully managed. Read more on how platforms can enhance trust & safety responsibly: https://lnkd.in/emCc_vpe #SafeOnline #ChildOnlineSafety

“Recent work, including that by CDT, on social media platforms’ political advertising policies, has sought to document and understand these policies in the context of past and current election information ecosystems.” https://lnkd.in/e_QW98Ug cc: Tech Policy Press Read the full report: https://lnkd.in/euYz9M38

AI-powered hiring technologies are transforming recruitment, but are they inclusive? CDT’s latest report dives into the ethical and legal risks of digitized assessments, particularly their impact on disabled job applicants. From potential bias to validity concerns, our findings highlight the need for safeguards to protect marginalized groups. Employers, policymakers, and advocates—this is a must-read for building fairer hiring systems. https://lnkd.in/eB2yrN_k

Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights released a new resource to assist communities in understanding the civil rights implications of #AI use in schools. CDT applauds this guidance. https://lnkd.in/ekQXrei7 CDT commends the Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights in clarifying the application of existing civil rights laws to uses of AI in education. This follows several years of advocacy, including our coalition letter last year reinforcing the need for such clarity and enforcement. (Signatories of that letter include … LGBT Tech, Fight for the Future, Electronic Privacy Information Center, ACLU, + others) https://lnkd.in/ewTcnBan Several of the examples align with legal analysis that CDT conducted and released last year, unpacking decades of civil rights claims like preventing disparate treatment and hostile learning environments: https://lnkd.in/eUsJijrF CDT research has shown that irresponsible use of AI contributes to disproportionate discipline practices, outing of LGBTQ+ students, acting a barrier to student learning and more, so this resource comes at a critical moment in setting norms for whether and how AI should be used in schools: https://lnkd.in/gA3yY_Zj Link to Department of Education Guidance: https://lnkd.in/ekQXrei7

CDT CEO Alexandra Reeve Givens on the release of the Department of Homeland Security's framework for safe & secure deployment of #ArtificialIntelligence. Reeve Givens: “This Framework recognizes that proper governance of #AI in the critical infrastructure ecosystem is a multistakeholder endeavor. If companies, governments, & NGOs embrace the voluntary roles and responsibilities this Framework envisions, deployment of AI in critical infrastructure is more likely to protect security, privacy, civil rights, and civil liberties than would otherwise be the case.” https://lnkd.in/gCbcDqVp