Your Data Is Biased, Here's Why - InformationWeek

Bias is everywhere, including in your data. A little skew here and there may be fine if the ramifications are minimal, but bias can negatively affect your company and its customers if left unchecked, so you should make an effort to understand how, where and why it happens. "Many [business leaders] trust the technical experts but I would argue that they're ultimately responsible if one of these models has unexpected results or causes harm to people's lives in some way," said Steve Mills, a principal and director of machine intelligence at technology and management consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton. In the financial industry, for example, biased data may cause results that offend the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (fair lending). That law, enacted in 1974, prohibits credit discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, age or source of income.