Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by martyb on Friday November 15 2019, @06:13AM   Printer-friendly
from the very-interesting dept.

A few days ago, Jamie Heinemeier Hansson went public with the observation that Apple Card gives better interest rates to husbands than to wives. Several sites have since picked up the story and now it has caught the attention of the US Senate.

I care about transparency and fairness. It's why I was deeply annoyed to be told by AppleCard representatives, "It's just the algorithm," and "It's just your credit score." I have had credit in the US far longer than David. I have never had a single late payment. I do not have any debts. David and I share all financial accounts, and my very good credit score is higher than David's. I had a career and was successful prior to meeting David, and while I am now a mother of three children — a "homemaker" is what I am forced to call myself on tax returns — I am still a millionaire who contributes greatly to my household and pays off credit in full each month. But AppleCard representatives did not want to hear any of this. I was given no explanation. No way to make my case.

From Gizmodo: Now a Senator Is Investigating the Sexist Apple Card Debacle

Wyden has lately taken up the bailiwick in fighting algorithmic bias. In April, he and Senator Corey Booker introduced the Algorithmic Accountability Act, which would obligate companies to assess their decision-making systems and training data "for impacts on accuracy, fairness, bias, discrimination, privacy and security." The bill has yet to move forward.

Earlier on SN:
Maybe Don't Keep Your Apple Card in a Leather Wallet, Apple Warns (2019)
Apple Unveils... a Titanium Credit Card (2019)


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 15 2019, @09:44PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 15 2019, @09:44PM (#920815)

    I've applied for credit far in excess of what I will ever use. I used to not care, but when I bought a house I was hurt my local bank's credit card still being at the default 4k credit line, and having 3.5k charged to it. My other account had a 15k limit with no balance. You get penalized for "close to limit" per account, no matter if you are really maxing out your credit. So I asked for an increase.

    It's dumb, but that's the way the industry operates. You can either play the game, or tilt at windmills trying to get them to change. Personally, I got the credit I wanted, and then never applied for any more.