Do you ever ignore your SatNav? that's algorithmic aversion Do you use the weather forecast to plan you picnic? that's algorithmic appreciation Algorithms aren't always right. What happens when they get it wrong? Such as a news feed that failed to tell me the news a friend was dying of cancer or a plane guidance systems that caused an air crash that killed another of my friends. Algorithmic Accountability is ensuring private algorithms that make decisions that affect us are scrutinised by public authorities. For any digital business implementing an algortihm there are a set of 7 principles you can follow to ensure your algorithm will be accountable. Talk given at Affiliate Huddle - Jun 2019

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Algorithmic
Accountability
is coming
Toby Beresford
Head of Client Engagement
Magic Freebies

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Magic Freebies
• MagicFreebies is a daily
publisher serving 2M members.
• For clients, Magic Freebies
offers a curated introduction
bringing them affordable
consumer leads at scale.

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Today we’ll cover…
• Algorithmic Aversion and Appreciation
• When Algorithms Go Wrong
• Algorithmic Accountability & Principles
• What MagicFreebies are doing
• What Google and Facebook are doing

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Algorithmic Aversion

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Photo: David Sugden

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Algorithmic Appreciation

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When Algorithms Go Wrong

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Algorithmic Accountability

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Getting Ready

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Algorithmic Accountability Principles
• Awareness
• Access and redress
• Accountability
• Explanation
• Data provenance
• Audit-ability
• Validation and testing

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Awareness
Users know where automated decisions have
been made, and owners are aware of the
potential harm automated decision making can
do.

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Access and redress
Users have access to a way to correct wrong
decisions.

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Accountability
If you deploy an algorithm you are responsible for
its decisions.

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Explanation
You should be able to explain the algorithm in
human terms.

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Data Provenance
You should be able to say where did the data
come from (and also where did training set data
come from).

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Auditability
You need to keep records of decisions made.

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Validation and Testing
Keep checking the algorithm is behaving as it
should.

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What we’re doing at
MagicFreebies

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What are Google &
Facebook doing?

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Time for a Magic
Freebie!
Pick up an Algorithmic
Accountability Principles info
sheet and take it back to your
team