The Many Facets of Data Equity

Abstract

Data-driven systems can induce, operationalize, and amplify systemic discrimination in a variety of ways. As data scientists, we tend to prefer to isolate and formalize equity problems to make them amenable to narrow technical solutions. However, this reductionist approach is inadequate in practice. In this article, we attempt to address data equity broadly, identify different ways in which it is manifest in data-driven systems, and propose a research agenda.