SafeRent is a machine learning black box for landlords. It gives landlords a numerical rating of potential tenants and a yes/no result on whether to rent to them.

In May 2022, Massachusetts housing voucher recipients and the Community Action Agency of Somerville sued the company, claiming SafeRent gave Black and Hispanic rental applicants with housing vouchers disproportionately lower scores.

The tenants had no visibility into how the algorithm scored them. Appeals were rejected on the basis that this was what the computer output said.

    • @otacon239
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      251 month ago

      The fact that I’ve never heard of the corporate death penalty until now, but they’re bringing back the actual death penalty says everything.

      • @mriguy
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        171 month ago

        “I’ll believe corporations are people when Texas executes one.”

    • @ChickenLadyLovesLife
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      11 month ago

      The penalty is usually a fine, which impacts stockholders by making the stock less valuable

      Of course they can always compensate for this by firing a bunch of people.