As Black and Latino households face mounting and disproportionate economic pressure from Covid-19, including looming evictions and loan defaults, it’s more critical than ever that the systems we use to determine who gets access to credit, loan restructuring and eviction relief are fair.
Still, given what we know about persistent bias in algorithms, we have plenty of reasons to fear that these systems will perpetuate racial injustice in areas like housing, credit, employment and healthcare unless industry leaders take action.
The good news is, in financial services a growing recognition of algorithmic bias is translating into action. The CFPB announced that it’s soliciting input on algorithmic transparency and fairness issues, while the House just proposed legislation to give the Federal Reserve a new mission of ending racial inequality.
