| Entities | National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) (2) |
| Topics and Issues | "Big data" (3) Financial inclusion (22) |
In January 2023, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced a request for comment “on how companies’ data practices may impose outsized harm on marginalized or underserved communities.” The press release adds that
The ways in which firms collect, share, and use data can exacerbate existing structural inequities. As NTIA notes in its Privacy, Equity, and Civil Rights Request for Comment:
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- Online job ads may be targeted based on real or perceived demographic characteristics such as age, sex, or race – reaching certain groups while ignoring others.
- Apps that collect and sell location data could reveal details about the user’s movements that make them vulnerable to discrimination – such as an LGBTQ+-specific dating app or a Muslim prayer app.
- The financial cost and time spent to secure one’s information after a data breach or identity theft incident can be more burdensome to correct and ultimately costly for low-income communities.
NTIA is preparing a “report analyzing whether and how commercial data practices can negatively affect marginalized or underserved communities, as well as how existing civil rights and privacy laws can be used to address privacy harms. This report will point to how current resources can be better deployed – and provide a guide for new privacy proposals.” The press release also pointed readers to a January 2023 OpEd last week from President Biden in the Wall Street Journal, Republicans and Democrats, Unite Against Big Tech Abuses.