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SUMMARY:Accountable Systems and Google Maps - Ben Wagner (Vienna Universit
 y)
DTSTART:20190207T150000Z
DTEND:20190207T160000Z
UID:TALK117499@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Marco Caballero
DESCRIPTION:Abstract:\nUsers perception of geographic reality heavily depe
 nd on digital mapping tools. This is particularly evident for transportati
 on recommender systems\, which are used to estimate travel distance\, sele
 ct the appropriate form of transportation and provide routing recommendati
 ons. This talk focuses on transportation recommender systems and analyses 
 how predictions of transportation distance influence users perception of d
 istance and transportation choices. \n\nWe will discuss how such systems c
 an be more accountable to their users\, analyse biases in the Google Maps 
 navigation recommender system and conduct a qualitative (n=36) and quantit
 ative study (n=521) on user perceptions of travel distance. Our analysis s
 uggests that Google Maps systematically under-estimates driving time which
  has an impact on how users perceive distance. In conclusion we present th
 e results of potential software accountability mechanisms to make Google M
 aps more accountable to its users and discuss limitations of our approach.
 \n\nBio:\nDr. Ben Wagner is an Assistant Professor and Director of the Pri
 vacy & Sustainable Computing Lab at Vienna University of Economics and Bus
 iness. He previously worked at the Technical University of Berlin\, Europe
 an University Viadrina and the University of Pennsylvania. He is part of t
 he Privacy & Usability training network and a member of the ENISA PSG advi
 sory board. His research focuses on technology\, human rights and accounta
 ble information systems. Ben holds a PhD in Political and Social Sciences 
 from European University Institute in Florence.
LOCATION:FW26\, Computer Laboratory\, William Gates Building
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