ACM Technology Policy Council Releases TechBrief on The Data Trust Deficit
June 22, 2023
ACM's global Technology Policy Council (TPC) has released its TechBrief: "The Data Trust Deficit." The Techbrief is focused on a key challenge: that the full potential of data-driven systems cannot be realized without better understanding the roots of the distrust they can engender.
Importantly, the ACM TechBrief dispels the popular misconception that a lack of trust in data systems is a result of poor data literacy among the public. In addressing the question of why the public distrusts data systems, the TechBrief also emphasizes that trust can vary according to demographic background. "The Data Trust Deficit" cites research showing that the negative effects of structural inequalities influence whether people trust.
ACM’s TechBriefs are designed to complement ACM’s activities in the policy arena and to inform policymakers, the public, and others about the nature and implications of information technologies. Previous ACM TechBriefs focused on safer algorithmic systems (the first in the Systems and Trust series), climate change, facial recognition, smart cities, quantum simulation, and election security. Topics under consideration for future issues include generative AI, media disinformation, content filtering, blockchain, accessibility and more.
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