A/HRC/35/9 status, 97 there is also a risk that it may not pick up information about the diverse experiences of women, owing to underrepresentation or exclusion of particular groups online and a lack of reporting.98 41. Another widely shared concern is that of algorithmic discrimination and bias. Studies indicate that as the use of artificial intelligence systems becomes more pervasive, there may be disproportionate and disparate impacts on certain groups facing systemic inequalities, including women within those groups. 99 For example, researchers discovered evidence of gender-based discrimination in the targeting of job-related advertisements online, as well as underrepresentation of women in Internet search results for certain professions.100 Further efforts should be focused on ensuring that data inputs are inclusive and accurate and that the operation of artificial intelligence is consistent with human rights; automated decision-making processes should be transparent and accountable for the analyses and decisions they deliver.101 42. A further emerging area is that of digital identity. In the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the role of robust identification systems and their importance to development was highlighted, specifically in target 16.9 of the Sustainable Development Goals, and such systems are key enablers in achieving many of the Goals. 102 However, nearly one fifth of the world’s population lacks any form of officially recognized identification. 103 Women in developing countries are disproportionally affected, as they may face higher economic and social barriers to obtaining official identification. This lack of identification can prevent those women concerned from accessing a variety of rights, such as social protection, education and health care, and from exercising the right to vote. It can also prevent them from accessing economic opportunities, jobs and credit. New technology allows digital identification systems to establish identity for those who lack traditional paper documents. For example, an important impediment in the area of women’s property and inheritance rights is the lack of proper identity documentation by which to establish a legal basis for claims. 104 Technologies such as blockchain can provide an authentication solution in the form of a unique, digital identifier, thereby helping to protect women’s equal rights to land and property. 105 Digital identity and digital currencies also present an opportunity to increase financial inclusion, helping to address the situation whereby approximately 50 per cent of women around the world do not have access to 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 Data2X, “Big data and the well-being of women and girls: applications on the social science frontier” (2017). See also input from the Human Rights, Big Data and Technology Project, para. 17. Elaine Edwards, “Writer urges users of ‘big data’ to consider impact on women”, Irish Times, 30 March 2017. Solon Barocas and Andrew D. Selbst,”Big data’s disparate impact”, California Law Review, vol. 104 (2016); Danah Boyd, Karen Levy and Alice Marwick, “The networked nature of algorithmic discrimination”, in Data and Discrimination: Collected Essays, Seeta Peña Gangadharan, Virginia Eubanks and Solon Barocas, eds. (2014). See input received by the group of researchers at Carnegie Mellon University and the International Computer Science Institute. See also Will Knight, “How to fix Silicon Valley’s sexist algorithms”, MIT Technology Review, 23 November 2016. Joshua A. Kroll and others, “Accountable algorithms”, University of Pennsylvania Law Review, vol. 165 (2017), p. 633; Corinne Cath and others, “Artificial intelligence and the ‘good society’: the US, EU and UK approach” (2016). The United Nations has created a task force focused on providing legal identity to all by 2020, which includes blockchain entrepreneurs, policymakers and non-governmental organizations (see id2020.org). See also Mariana Dahan and Alan Gelb, “The role of identification in the post-2015 development agenda” (Center for Global Development, 2015). World Bank, “Identification for development: strategic framework” (2016), p. 4. OHCHR and United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UNWomen), Realizing Women’s Rights to Land and Other Productive Resources (2013), p. 38. Lucia Hanmer and Mariana Dahan, “Identification for development: its potential for empowering women and girls” blog dated 9 November 2015, available at http://blogs.worldbank.org/voices/identification-development-its-potential-empowering-women-andgirls; Centre for International Governance Innovation proposal for the Group of 20 to harness blockchain technology for women’s empowerment and sustainable development, available at www.cigionline.org/sites/default/files/documents/PB%20no.101.pdf. 13