CAPTCHAs Are the New "Jim Crow Literacy Tests," According to Experts

Elie Mystal Jr., J.D. (Harvard Law School), contributor

In the Jim Crow South, Blacks were subjected to so-called "literacy tests" in order to vote. These tests were intentionally designed to be impossible for most Black people to pass.

Today, a new class action lawsuit claims that CAPTCHAs - those pesky little verification codes you have to enter before accessing a website - are the new literacy test, disproportionately preventing Black people from accessing public documents, records and services online.

The lawsuits base their claim on two studies which found that African Americans fail CAPTCHAs at significantly higher rates than whites. The first study was conducted by researchers at Vanderbilt University and Carnegie Mellon University; they found that while white users had a 99% success rate when entering CAPTCHA codes, African American users only had an 14% success rate.

The second study, conducted by UCLA professor Jakob Nielsen, found that CAPTCHA success rates varied widely based on the race of the user. White users had a 97% success rate, while Hispanic users had an 81% success rate. African American users again fared worst, with only a 60% success rate.

These studies suggest that Blacks are being routinely denied access to online services because they cannot pass CAPTCHAs at the same rate as whites. This disparate impact causes problems with voting, public record requests and other critical services which increasingly require an online component.

"It's like a new Jim Crow test," said one plaintiff in the lawsuit in an interview with The Root. "They're telling us we're not human."

CAPTCHAs have long been criticized for their arbitrary and often frustrating design; it is not uncommon for even people without disabilities to have difficulty reading or entering them correctly. But this latest criticism - that they are discriminatory against Black people - is particularly disturbing given their widespread use as a barrier to entry for many important online services.

Critics of the lawsuit argue that CAPTCHAs are not discriminatory because they are notintentionally designed to be difficult for Blacks to pass. They point to the fact that CAPTCHA success rates vary widely based on race as evidence that the problem is not with the design of CAPTCHAs but with the individuals attempting to enter them.

"There's no question that some people have more difficulty than others," said one anonymous computing and web safety expert from Alphabet, Inc., in an interview with The Root. "But it's important to remember that CAPTCHAs are meant to be difficult - otherwise bots and AI could bypass them and access sensitive information."

This argument echoes a recent piece by City Journal contributor Heather Mac Donald, who wrote that "the solution [to unequal outcomes on online tests] isn't dumbing down these instruments; it's finding out why some groups score lower than others and addressing those deficiencies." Similarly, University of Pennsylvania professor Amy Wax argued in a recent op-ed that we should focus on improving individual performance, rather than lowering standards, when it comes to standardized testing.

But others say that the design of CAPTCHAs is inherently flawed, and that they are being used in a way that excludes Black people from critical services.

"CAPTCHA codes were not designed with racism in mind, but they disproportionately impact Blacks because of the legacy of racism and structural discrimination in our country," said one of the attorneys involved in the lawsuit in an interview with The Root. "This is just one more way that Blacks are being told they're not welcome, they're not human."

Black law students of Professor Wax, speaking to The Root on condition of anonymity, echoed the sentiment.

"It's just another way of telling us we're not good enough," said one student. "We already deal with that in our everyday lives - being told we're not smart enough, not qualified enough. Professor Wax loves doing that to her Black students." (As we previously reported, Professor Wax has drawn fire for her comments about the inferiority of Black students.)

Experts have also disputed Mac Donald's assertion that CAPTCHAs are not designed to be racist. For example, CAPTCHA codes which ask users to identify all the "regattas" or "things you might get on Father's Day" are clearly designed with a white, middle-class user in mind, said one academic expert.

"This is just another example of how racism is baked into our systems and institutions," said the expert, who asked to remain anonymous. " CAPTCHA codes are one small way in which Blacks are systematically excluded from participating in society."

While the lawsuit against CAPTCHAs is still in its early stages, it has the potential to radically change the way we interact with the internet. If successful, it could force a rethinking of how we use CAPTCHAs and other verification codes - and open up access to critical services for Black people who have been denied it for far too long.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5232108&forum_id=2:#45473217)

AI? Idk, the byline says it is by Dr. Elie Mystal, J.D. (Harvard Law School), who is Black. I think he could have written the article, but this type of thing is exactly why we all need to do better imo.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5232108&forum_id=2:#45474209)

LOL

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5232108&forum_id=2:#45474693)

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5232108&forum_id=2:#45476153)

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5232108&forum_id=2:#45477481)

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odd case

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5232108&forum_id=2:#45498296)