Women in Identity preview ID Code of Conduct, launch awareness campaign

Women in Identity is raising awareness of the problem of AI bias in identity systems and the forthcoming launch of its ID Code of Conduct. The launch of the campaign is timed to coincide with Identity Day 2024.

The campaign is built around the observation that “Human bias fuels AI bias, and bias is bad for business.”

The organization presents three case studies of how AI bias can negatively impact people’s day-to-day lives. One example provided is of an individual named Aaron, who was denied a loan despite a perfect credit record. Another describes the plight of a person named Jamie, who was one-twentieth as much credit as her husband despite a better record. The case of Robert Williams, who was wrongfully arrested following a facial recognition match that should not have been used for probable cause, is also presented.

The current stage of the project is a study into the economic costs of identity exclusion. The work organizations put into dealing with identity exclusion is often invisible, according to Women in Identity, which makes determining its cost very difficult.

“One example of hidden work is all the troubleshooting that is needed when an identity transaction doesn’t proceed as expected,” the organization explains. “This may involve both diagnostic activities and assistance with technological issues, e.g. around using multi–factor authentication. This troubleshooting may involve call centres, be in person or use online support agents. If troubleshooting is handled via a call centre, the proportion of support tickets raised around identity exclusion issues can help quantify the call centre costs that the company is incurring. In other situations, attributing the costs of troubleshooting is much more difficult to do.”

The ID Code of Conduct research study is led by Edgar Whitley, a professor at the London School of Economics.

WiD is also holding an event in Toronto on Tuesday in partnership with RBC to explore deepfakes and other cyber threats.

“Navigating the digital frontier: Deepfakes, Cybersecurity, Legal and Personal Protection Strategies” is free to attend with registration, and will also include an update on the progress being made towards the publication of the ID Code of Conduct.

Article Topics

biometric bias  |  biometrics  |  digital identity  |  ID Code of Conduct  |  identity management  |  Women in Identity