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AI Policy & Governance, Privacy & Data

CDT Submitted Testimony Regarding D.C. Stop Discrimination by Algorithms Act

The Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT) submitted comments in response to the D.C. Council Committee on Government Operations & Facilities’ call for written testimony on the Stop Discrimination by Algorithms Act of 2021 (SDAA).

Our testimony discusses harms that D.C. communities face due to discrimination in algorithm-driven decision-making. Algorithmic tools inform decisions across sectors, including:

These systems can directly impact Black, immigrant, disabled, and LGBTQ+ people in D.C, so effective legal safeguards against algorithmic harms are critical for these communities. CDT supports a number of provisions in the SDAA that create transparency requirements for algorithm-driven decision-making systems. The Council should ensure that protections are scoped to prevent algorithmic harms against D.C. communities.

Read the full testimony here.