The Black Box Society: The Secret Algorithms That Control Money and Information - Hardcover

Frank Pasquale

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0674368274 ISBN 13: 9780674368279

Publisher: Harvard University Press, 2015

Synopsis

Every day, corporations are connecting the dots about our personal behavior silently scrutinizing clues left behind by our work habits and Internet use. The data compiled and portraits created are incredibly detailed, to the point of being invasive. But who connects the dots about what firms are doing with this information? The Black Box Society "argues that we all need to be able to do so and to set limits on how big data affects our lives. Hidden algorithms can make (or ruin) reputations, decide the destiny of entrepreneurs, or even devastate an entire economy. Shrouded in secrecy and complexity, decisions at major Silicon Valley and Wall Street firms were long assumed to be neutral and technical. But leaks, whistleblowers, and legal disputes have shed new light on automated judgment. Self-serving and reckless behavior is surprisingly common, and easy to hide in code protected by legal and real secrecy. Even after billions of dollars of fines have been levied, underfunded regulators may have only scratched the surface of this troubling behavior. Frank Pasquale exposes how powerful interests abuse secrecy for profit and explains ways to rein them in. Demanding transparency is only the first step. An intelligible"society would assure that key decisions of its most important firms are fair, nondiscriminatory, and open to criticism. Silicon Valley and Wall Street need to accept as much accountability as they impose on others."

About this title

Review:

A timely and important book about the algorithmic processes that play such central roles in our emerging information society. Pasquale explores the abuses that have resulted from insufficient transparency and exposes the inability of either markets or regulators to instill appropriate levels of accountability. He is not a reflexive technology-basher, however, but instead offers judicious reform proposals. --Julie E. Cohen, author of "Configuring the Networked Self: Law, Code, and the Play of Everyday Practice"

"Pasquale provides an informative survey of developments in the representative fields of search, reputation and finance to bolster his argument that a laissez-faire approach to algorithmic decision-making is taking us to places where most of us will not want to go [...] Pasquale points to the US Treasury s little-known Office of Financial Research, sometimes called the CIA of finance , which aims to provide regulators with real-time intelligence on financial markets. The book is full of instructive anecdotes on such matters, backed by useful research. [...] It is tempting to say that the political process needed to enact such reforms has itself become a black box. Yet in The Black Box Society, Pasquale finds reason to believe that even some of the most secretive and unresponsive institutions can be held to account. Elucidating the problem is a first step. -- Nature

The algorithmic control that law scholar Frank Pasquale eloquently and intelligently details and analyses goes beyond money and information and into almost every aspect of our lives... The Black Box Society, ultimately, is a radical and political work that deserves wide attention... His analysis of search is pointed and poignant, underlining that we need to understand it better and treat search results more critically and sceptically... Pasquale writes with humour and mischief . --Times Higher Education

About the Author:

Frank Pasquale is Professor of Law at the University of Maryland, an Affiliate Fellow at Yale Law School's Information Society Project, and a member of the Council for Big Data, Ethics, and Society.

About this edition

• Publisher: Harvard University Press
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 0674368274
• ISBN 13: 9780674368279
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 320