Airbnb Shows How Private Sector Can Use Data to Fight Discrimination In December 2015, researchers at Harvard University discovered a disturbing trend on the popular home-sharing service Airbnb: hosts were routinely discriminating against would-be guests on the basis of race. In response, the company brought in experts, including former Attorney General Eric Holder, to conduct a comprehensive review of its platform to identify opportunities to prevent discrimination. Airbnb recently released a report summarizing the results of this review and detailing a number of its commitments to use data to combat bias in the booking process. In doing so, Airbnb has become the poster child for how companies can use data as a powerful force to combat human bias and discrimination. Despite common claims that algorithms and big data will cause discrimination, the Harvard report found it was human-made decisions, rather than data-driven algorithmic ones, that were at fault for the bias on Airbnb. In fact, it was the availability of data that allowed this discrimination to be identified. The study found that Airbnb users with “distinctively African-American names” have approximately a 16 percent lower acceptance rate for bookings than individuals with “distinctively White names.” The trend is present regardless of the race of the host, whether the host and guest share the property, and the listing price. The researchers conclude that specific features of Airbnb, such as allowing hosts to screen guests and providing them the names of potential guests, facilitates discrimination. Airbnb has acknowledged the bias present on its platform, noting that “minorities struggle more than others to book a listing,” and has created a plan to tackle discrimination on its platform. https://www.datainnovation.org/2016/09/airbnb-shows-how-private-sector-can-u... -- Prof. Avv. Alessandro Mantelero Politecnico di Torino Nexa Center for Internet and Society | Director of Privacy Politecnico di Torino–Tongji University| Coordinator, Double Degree program in Management and IP Law Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology | Part-time Expert, School of Public Administration European Data Protection Law Review | Associate Editor http://staff.polito.it/alessandro.mantelero EMAIL POLICY: once a day (Mon-Fri)