Author: Charles Duhigg
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks
Publication Year: 2014
Summary: The following book discusses how in 2002, statistician Andrew Pole began working for Target as a data expert. He was tasked with making an algorithm that could predict pregnancy status. A year after his algorithm was implemented, the father of a high school female angrily entered a Minnesota Target wondering why his daughter was receiving coupons for baby clothes and cribs. A few days later, the father admitted to the manager that the store knew of her pregnancy before he did. Data scientists have a responsibility to consider not only want is legal, but what is responsible and ethical. Algorithms like this risk exposing people to potential harm and eliminating the privacy of individuals.
