III: Medium: Collaborative Research: Fairness in Web Database Applications

网络已经影响了人类生活和社会的每一个角落，它提供了消除人与人之间物理障碍的网络基础设施。包括在线推荐系统、在线购物网站、基于位置的网站、资源共享平台、社交媒体和服务网站在内的无数Web数据库应用程序，使人们的生活变得前所未有地互联、方便和经济。内部模型、算法、排名策略、用户概况和数据资源塑造了这些Web数据库应用程序的行为。不幸的是，这些做法可能包括通过其服务、产品和推荐来传播甚至放大历史偏见的不公平做法。这个项目的目的是检测这种不公平，并在可能的情况下纠正它。检测和纠正不公平的一个中心问题是，关于这些网络系统的底层数据和算法，可以假设有多少知识。假设完全知情是不现实的，如果没有这样的假设，甚至很难发现不公平。该项目依赖于有限的假设，例如后端数据库的存在。在此基础上，该项目将检测不合理的偏见，开发可用于避免无意中的不公平的负责任的设计工具，并实施第三方工具来定制应对措施，以减少不同人口群体之间的差异。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The Web has affected every corner of human life and society by providing the cyber-infrastructure to remove physical barriers between people. Myriad web database applications, including online recommendation systems, online shopping sites, location-based websites, resource-sharing platforms, social media, and service websites, have made people's lives unimaginably more connected, convenient, and cost-effective. The internal models, algorithms, ranking strategies, user profiling, and data resources shape the behavior of these web database applications. Unfortunately, these can include unfair practices that propagate, or even amplify, historical biases through their services, products, and recommendations. This project aims to detect such unfairness and to correct it where possible.A central question in detecting and correcting unfairness is how much knowledge can be assumed about these web systems' underlying data and algorithms. It is unrealistic to assume full knowledge, and it is hard even to detect unfairness without such assumptions. This project relies on making limited assumptions, such as the existence of a back-end database. Based on these, the project will detect unwarranted bias, develop responsible design tools one can use to avoid inadvertent unfairness, and implement third-party tools to tailor responses to reduce disparities between different demographic groups.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.