Jeff Larson

Bias In Criminal Risk Scores Is Mathematically Inevitable, Researchers Say

An analysis of bias against black defendants in criminal risk scores has prompted research showing that the disparity can be addressed — if the algorithms focus on the fairness of outcomes.

Jeff Larson
Julia Angwin
By Jeff Larson
And Julia Angwin
An inmate stands at his cell door at the maximum security facility at the Arizona

The racial bias that ProPublica found in a formula used by courts and parole boards to forecast future criminal behavior arises inevitably from the test’s design, according to new research. The findings were described in scholarly papers published or circulated over the past several months. Taken together, they represent the most far-reaching

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FAQ About NSA’s Interest In Angry Birds And Other ‘Leaky Apps’

U.S. and British spy agencies have sought to intercept the information transmitted by the games and other apps that users download onto their smartphones.

Julia Angwin
Jeff Larson
By Julia Angwin
And Jeff Larson
In this photo released by Lucasfilm, a developer demonstrates the Angry Birds Star Wars game. (AP Photo/Lucasfilm, Gary He)

What's new here? This article reveals how U.S. and British spy agencies have sought to intercept the information transmitted by the games and other apps that users download onto their smartphones. Previous stories have detailed how U.S. and British spies have been intercepting massive quantities of cellphone text messages and gathering the

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Johns Hopkins Asks Professor To Remove Anti-NSA Blog Posts

Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins University, which is short drive from the NSA’s headquarters at Fort Meade, works closely with the spy agency.

Jeff Larson
By Jeff Larson

Citing concerns about linking to classified material, Johns Hopkins University asked a professor this morning to remove a blog post discussing  last week’s revelations about the NSA’s efforts to break encryption. The post had linked to government documents published by ProPublica, the Guardian, and the New York Times. Several hours later, after

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NSA: Responding To This FOIA Request Would Help ‘Our Adversaries’

The letter warns that any response to this particular Freedom of Information Act request for data would help the NSA’s adversaries. Whoever they are.

Jeff Larson
By Jeff Larson

Shortly after the Guardian and Washington Post published their Verizon and PRISM stories, I filed a freedom of information request with the NSA seeking any personal data the agency has about me. I didn't expect an answer, but yesterday I received a letter signed by Pamela Phillips, the Chief FOIA Officer at the agency (which really freaked out my

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Explore Hundreds Of Campaign Emails In The Message Machine

We’ve been collecting campaign emails for the last few months for a project we call theMessage Machine. If you’ve followed the project you may already know that campaigns have been using increasingly sophisticated strategies to target emails they send out, often sending variations of each message to different people based on their demographics and past […]

Jeff Larson
By Jeff Larson
In this May 15, 2012, photo, Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks during a campaign stop in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

We’ve been collecting campaign emails for the last few months for a project we call theMessage Machine. If you’ve followed the project you may already know that campaigns have been using increasingly sophisticated strategies to target emails they send out, often sending variations of each message to different people based on their demographics and

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