A former Wall Street quant sounds an alarm on the mathematical models that pervade modern life - and threaten to rip apart our social fabric We live in the age of the algorithm. Increasingly, the decisions that affect our lives - where we go to school, whether we get a loan, how much we pay for insurance - are being made not by humans, but by mathematical models. In theory, this should lead to greater fairness: everyone is judged according to the same rules, and bias is eliminated. And yet, as Cathy O'Neil reveals in this urgent and necessary book, the opposite is true. The models being used today are opaque, unregulated, and incontestable, even when they're wrong. Most troubling, they reinforce discrimination. Tracing the arc of a person's life, O'Neil exposes the black box models that shape our future, both as individuals and as a society. These "weapons of math destruction" score teachers and students, sort CVs, grant or deny loans, evaluate workers, target voters, and monitor our health. O'Neil calls on modellers to take more responsibility for their algorithms and on policy makers to regulate their use. But in the end, it's up to us to become more savvy about the models that govern our lives. This important book empowers us to ask the tough questions, uncover the truth, and demand change.

* Our summary is short, simple and pragmatic. It allows you to have the essential ideas of a big book in less than 30 minutes. By reading this summary, you will discover that mathematical models, and more particularly algorithms coupled with information systems, may increase inequalities and threaten democracies. You will also discover that : mathematical models are not neutral, but hide ideologies and personal interests; algorithms promise efficiency and lowest cost, but increase inequalities and injustices; mathematical formulas affect your life choices; your personal data are weapons used by the giants of Tech. At a time when algorithms are king, the decisions that affect your life - which school to go to, which loan to take out - are no longer made by humans, but by mathematical models. In theory, this should promote fairness: everyone is judged by the same level of value. Mathematician Cathy O'Neil argues the opposite. These opaque, unregulated models can cause irreparable damage, like the mortgage payments of American households during the subprime crisis in 2007. Worse: they accentuate discrimination. For example, a student from a modest background who cannot obtain a loan - too risky - will never have access to quality education. These mathematical models support the lucky ones and disadvantage the oppressed: welcome to the dark side of big data, the exponential growth of digital data! *Buy now the summary of this book for the modest price of a cup of coffee!

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A former Wall Street quant sounds the alarm on Big Data and the mathematical models that threaten to rip apart our social fabric—with a new afterword “A manual for the twenty-first-century citizen . . . relevant and urgent.”—Financial Times NATIONAL BOOK AWARD LONGLIST • NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The New York Times Book Review • The Boston Globe • Wired • Fortune • Kirkus Reviews • The Guardian • Nature • On Point We live in the age of the algorithm. Increasingly, the decisions that affect our lives—where we go to school, whether we can get a job or a loan, how much we pay for health insurance—are being made not by humans, but by machines. In theory, this should lead to greater fairness: Everyone is judged according to the same rules. But as mathematician and data scientist Cathy O’Neil reveals, the mathematical models being used today are unregulated and uncontestable, even when they’re wrong. Most troubling, they reinforce discrimination—propping up the lucky, punishing the downtrodden, and undermining our democracy in the process. Welcome to the dark side of Big Data.

The article offers a brief profile of mathematician Cathy O'Neil, author of the book "Weapons of Math Destruction: How Big Data Increases Inequality and Threatens Democracy." Emphasis is given to topics such as the role of algorithms and mathematical models in the securities industry, the financial crisis of 2008-2009, and O'Neil's bluegrass band the Tomtown Ramblers. --

Herein, an interdisciplinary group of scholars analyze the possible technological impacts on civil society's development, drawing upon the «Horizon Scanning» methodology. The overarching aim of this collection is to broaden the spectrum of the social and technical imaginare. One specific objective is to analyze how technological advancements may influence the development of civil society in Russia, the former Soviet Union, and Central and Eastern Europe. A second is to assist those involved in such issues to make decisions in the context of possible future development scenarios.

This book focuses on the right to privacy in the digital age with a view to see how it is implemented across the globe in different jurisdictions. The right to privacy is one of the rights enshrined in international human rights law. It has been a topic of interest for both academic and non-academic audiences around the world. However, with the increasing digitalisation of modern life, protecting one’s privacy has become more complicated. Both state and non-state organisations make frequent interventions in citizens’ private lives. This edited volume aims to provide an overview of recent development pertaining to the protection of the right to privacy in the different judicial systems such as the European, South Asian, African and Inter-American legal systems. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of The International Journal of Human Rights.

The world is witnessing the growth of a global movement facilitated by technology and social media. Fueled by information, this movement contains enormous potential to create more accountable, efficient, responsive, and effective governments and businesses, as well as spurring economic growth. Big Data Governance and Perspectives in Knowledge Management is a collection of innovative research on the methods and applications of applying robust processes around data, and aligning organizations and skillsets around those processes. Highlighting a range of topics including data analytics, prediction analysis, and software development, this book is ideally designed for academicians, researchers, information science professionals, software developers, computer engineers, graduate-level computer science students, policymakers, and managers seeking current research on the convergence of big data and information governance as two major trends in information management.

Never look at social media the same way again. Social media are an integral part of contemporary society. From news and politics to language and everyday life, they have changed the way we communicate, use information and understand the world. So we have to ask critical questions about social media. We have to dig deeper into issues of ownership, power, class and (in)justice. This book equips you with a critical understanding of the complexities and contradictions at the heart of social media’s relationship with society. The revised and expanded

This innovative new textbook, co-authored by an established academic and a leading practitioner, is the first to bring together issues of cloud computing, business intelligence and big data analytics in order to explore how organisations use cloud technology to analyse data and make decisions. In addition to offering an up-to-date exploration of key issues relating to data privacy and ethics, information governance, and the future of analytics, the text describes the options available in deploying analytic solutions to the cloud and draws on real-world, international examples from companies such as Rolls Royce, Lego, Volkswagen and Samsung. Combining academic and practitioner perspectives that are crucial to the understanding of this growing field, Business Analytics acts an ideal core text for undergraduate, postgraduate and MBA modules on Big Data, Business and Data Analytics, and Business Intelligence, as well as functioning as a supplementary text for modules in Marketing Analytics. The book is also an invaluable resource for practitioners and will quickly enable the next generation of 'Information Builders' within organisations to understand innovative cloud based-analytic solutions.