Lauren Kirchner
The Markup
New York, NY, United States
Contact Lauren
Discover and connect with journalists and influencers around the world, save time on email research, monitor the news, and more.
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Past articles by Lauren:
The Secret Bias Hidden in Mortgage-Approval Algorithms –
Even accounting for factors lenders said would explain disparities, people of color are denied mortgages at significantly higher rates than White people → Read More
Can Algorithms Violate Fair Housing Laws? –
Landlords increasingly use screening services to weed out renters. Advocates say both landlords and the algorithms should be accountable when things go wrong. → Read More
Millions of Americans Depend on Libraries for Internet. Now They’re Closed –
From big cities to tiny towns, librarians are getting scrappy to meet the need → Read More
How Fair Is Zoom Justice? –
Court hearings are going virtual in response to COVID-19. Studies show they can lead to harsher outcomes for defendants → Read More
Access Denied: Faulty Automated Background Checks Freeze Out Renters –
Computer algorithms that scan everything from terror watch lists to eviction records spit out flawed tenant screening reports. And almost nobody is watching → Read More
Federal Judge Unseals New York Crime Lab’s Software for Analyzing DNA Evidence —
We asked the judge to make the source code public after scientists and defense attorneys raised concerns that flaws in its design may have resulted in innocent people going to prison. → Read More
ProPublica Seeks Source Code for New York City’s Disputed DNA Software —
We’re asking a federal court for the code behind a technique that critics say may have put innocent people in prison. → Read More
Negligent DNA Testing Has Affected Thousands of New York Criminal Cases
New York City's crime lab has been a pioneer nationally in analyzing especially difficult DNA samples. But the recent disclosure of the source code for its proprietary software is raising new questions about accuracy. → Read More
Thousands of Criminal Cases in New York Relied on Disputed DNA Testing Techniques —
New York City’s crime lab has been a pioneer nationally in analyzing especially difficult DNA samples. But the recent disclosure of the source code for its proprietary software is raising new questions about accuracy. → Read More
Despite Disavowals, Leading Tech Companies Help Extremist Sites Monetize Hate
Most tech companies have policies against working with hate websites. Yet a ProPublica survey found that PayPal, Stripe, Newsmax and others help keep more than half of the most-visited extremist sites in business. → Read More
Lawmakers Seek Stronger Monitoring of Racial Prejudice in Car Insurance Premiums
Those in minority neighborhoods frequently pay higher premiums than individuals from white areas with the same risk. → Read More
Lawmakers Seek Stronger Monitoring of Racial Disparities in Car Insurance Premiums
In response to our report that minority neighborhoods pay higher premiums than white areas with the same risk, six members of Congress and two Illinois state senators are pushing for closer scrutiny of insurance practices. → Read More
Machine Bias
We’re investigating algorithmic injustice and the formulas that increasingly influence our lives. → Read More
How We Examined Racial Discrimination in Auto Insurance Prices
Read our methodology. → Read More
Minority Neighborhoods Pay Higher Car Insurance Premiums Than White Areas With the Same Risk
Our analysis of premiums and payouts in California, Illinois, Texas and Missouri shows that some major insurers charge minority neighborhoods as much as 30 percent more than other areas with similar accident costs. → Read More
DNA Dragnet: In Some Cities, Police Go From Stop-and-Frisk to Stop-and-Spit
Police in Florida and other states are building up private DNA databases, in part by collecting voluntary samples from people not charged with — or even suspected of — any particular crime. → Read More
The Legal System Uses an Algorithm That's Biased Against Blacks to Predict Recidivism
Risk assessments are increasingly common in courtrooms across the nation. They are used to inform decisions about who can be set free at every stage of the criminal justice system, from assigning bond amounts — as is the case in Fort Lauderdale — to even more fundamental decisions about defendants' freedom. In Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, Kentucky, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Virginia, Washington and… → Read More
Machine Bias: There’s Software Used Across the Country to Predict Future Criminals. And it’s Biased Against Blacks.
There’s software used across the country to predict future criminals. And it’s biased against blacks. → Read More
Where's the Evidence That Mass Surveillance Actually Works?
Officials are again pointing to the need for mass surveillance to take down terrorists. Here’s what we know about how well it works. → Read More
What’s the Evidence Mass Surveillance Works? Not Much
Officials are again pointing to the need for mass surveillance to take down terrorists. Here’s what we know about how well it works. → Read More