S.T.O.P. Launches State AI Law Tracker

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For Immediate Release S.T.O.P. Launches State AI Law Tracker (New York, NY 10/19/2023) – Today, the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (S.T.O.P.), a New York-based privacy and civil rights group, launched a tracker for state laws regulating Artificial Intelligence and other Automated Decision Systems (“ADS”), including ADS used in employment, schools, and policing. The tracker comes as ADS are increasingly ubiquitous in American life. The civil rights group found that growing interest from advocates and lawmakers has generally failed to translate into binding legal protections against algorithmic harms. SEE: S.T.O.P. - Automated Decision System Regulation Survey 2023 https://www.stopspying.org/ads-regulation-survey-2023 “Legislators are realizing that existing laws don’t protect us against discrimination by algorithm,” said Surveillance Technology Oversight Project Research Director Eleni Manis. “S.T.O.P. catalogued the key moves that cities and states are making to end discrimination, privacy violations, and other civil rights abuses associated with automated decision-making.” Key Findings Include: ADS have outpaced laws set up to protect citizens from discrimination and other civil rights violations; Twelve states have enacted comprehensive privacy laws since 2020 that limit ADS and other systems’ use of sensitive data and regulate automated processing of decisions; Other states have enacted “Sector-Specific Regulation,” limited to a particular sector in which ADS are deployed (e.g., criminal procedure, traffic, employment); Transparency laws require ADS users to be accountable to the public and to impacted communities, usually restricting government use and procurement of ADS; Some states and several cities regulate ADS by placing them under the supervision of task forces, groups typically composed of government representatives, academic experts, industry and community representatives. Many legislative attempts to stop ADS-related harms have failed due to competing legislative priorities, limited legislator time, and staunch opposition from industry groups and other parties resisting regulation. In June, S.T.O.P. warned that New York City’s implementation of its first-in-the-nation AI hiring and employment law would be a “civil rights disaster,” leaving New Yorkers vulnerable to AI discrimination. Earlier this year, comedian John Oliver cited the civil rights group during an episode of Last Week Tonight discussing the need to reign in newly AI-driven tools with sensitive uses like hiring. SEE: Press Release - S.T.O.P. Warns NYC’s New AI Hiring Law Will Be ‘Civil Rights Disaster’ https://www.stopspying.org/latest-news/2023/6/29/stop-warns-nycs-new-ai-hiring-law-will-be-civil-rights-disaster HBO - Artificial Intelligence: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sqa8Zo2XWc4 The Surveillance Technology Oversight Project is a non-profit advocacy organization and legal services provider. S.T.O.P. litigates and advocates for privacy, fighting excessive local and state-level surveillance. Our work highlights the discriminatory impact of surveillance on Muslim Americans, immigrants, and communities of color. --END-- CONTACT: S.T.O.P. Executive Director Albert Fox Cahn. Copyright © 2021 Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, All rights reserved.