 |
| Apple began offering the Apple Card credit card, issued by Goldman Sachs, in March 2019 (AFP Photo/Josh Edelson) |
San Francisco (AFP) - A New York financial regulator said Saturday it is investigating claims of gender discrimination by the new credit card from tech giant Apple and its issuer Goldman Sachs, after a cardholder's tweet about his wife's credit limit went viral.
American
businessman David Heinemeier Hansson had tweeted on Thursday that the Apple
Card is a "fucking sexist program."
He said the
card's "black box" algorithm had given him 20 times the credit limit
of his wife, even though they file joint tax returns and she has a higher credit
score.
Hansson
tweeted a series of messages recounting fruitless chats with Apple customer
service agents, who were unable to explain the disparity but blamed it on the
algorithm that determines an applicant's credit-worthiness.
A
"black box" algorithm refers to artificial intelligence systems whose
decisions cannot be explained.
In March,
Apple started offering the Apple Card, issued by banking giant Goldman Sachs.
New York
state regulators will "be conducting an investigation to determine whether
New York law was violated and ensure all consumers are treated equally
regardless of sex," said a spokesman for Linda Lacewell, the
superintendent of the New York Department of Financial Services.
"Any
algorithm, that intentionally or not results in discriminatory treatment of
women or any other protected class of people violates New York law."
Said
Goldman spokesman Andrew Williams: "Our credit decisions are based on a
customer's creditworthiness and not on factors like gender, race, age, sexual
orientation or any other basis prohibited by law."
No comments:
Post a Comment