The Privacy-Bias Tradeoff: Data Minimization and Racial Disparity Assessments in U.S. Government

Government-wide standards for collecting data on race and demographic data access to teams conducting an assessment (most ethnicity were established by the OMB’s 1977 “Standards for the ambitiously through the prototype National Secure Data Service Classification of Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity” and subse- (NSDS) [91] or the proposed National Artificial Intelligence Re- quently revised in 19. [...] One of Despite the positive reception to EO 13,985, Table 2 demonstrates a the key policy recommendations from the FIP perspective has been stark reality: demographic data is rarely, inconsistently, and poorly data minimization: that the collection of personal data is “adequate, collected, and prior attempts to improve such collection ran into relevant and limited to what is necessary in relation. [...] Passed in the wake of the Watergate scandal and amid of organizations touch on privacy, cautioning that “data collection growing concerns over government abuses of power and use of efforts must also be balanced with the importance of confidentiality technology, the Act guards against the creation of a centralized and privacy, especially for vulnerable communities whose data may federal database [1. [...] Finally, a 2018 lection would be permitted by law, agencies worry the public may study by the Census Bureau identified the proposed reintroduction feel threatened due to unfamiliarity with existing privacy protec- of a citizenship question on the 2020 census as a “major barrier” tions, a lack of awareness of the collective benefits of demographic to participation, due to the political discourse su. [...] Nondiscrimination in Federally-Assisted Programs of the Department of continue explaining the importance of this data to participants as Agriculture - Effectuation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.