NYC’s Task Force to Tackle Algorithmic Bias: A Study in Inertia

In December, 2017 the New York City Council passed Local Law 49, the first law in the country designed to address algorithmic bias and discrimination occurring as a result of algorithms used by City agencies. Local Law 49 created an Automated Decision Systems Task Force (“Task Force”) to monitor algorithms used by municipal agencies, and directed the Task Force to provide recommendations by the fall of 2019 as to how to make algorithms used by the City fairer and more transparent.  Despite the Task Force’s daunting task of balancing the need for more transparency with respect to the City’s use of algorithms against the right of companies to protect their intellectual property, many people were hopeful that Local Law 49 would encourage other cities and states to acknowledge the problem of algorithmic bias.

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