WAO - The Workers' Algorithm Observatory

The Workers'
Algorithm Observatory

Worker-led audits in the platform economy

WAO helps workers and allies investigate black-box algorithmic systems

We're crowdsourcing the data necessary for meaningful, scientific audits

Our group is building tools and support for workers and allies

Tools

We're building tools to investigate black-box algorithmic systems

FairFare

FairFare helps drivers, organizers, and policy-makers understand the ride hail industry by crowdsourcing fare data from drivers. Drivers securely and anonymously link their job data to analyze average fare breakdowns and changes over time, in several states nationwide. This pilot study runs through Summer 2024, is based at Princeton University, and is funded by the Mozilla Foundation. Read about our launch in this blog post, learn about our early findings in this 10-min video with drivers in Colorado, and sign up for the study at the getfairfare.org website.

The Shipt calculator

The Shipt Calculator was a worker-led study of a black box algorithm used by the delivery company Shipt. Willy Solis, a member of the Gig Workers Collective who led the study, collaborated with Cowo rker.org and our team to crowdsource and analyze data shared by over one hundred workers using a custom texting bot. We found that wages decreased for a majority but increased for a minority, suggesting that the algorithm determines more than just pay – it affects worker agency and well-being, too. Learn more about this in a blog post and 11-minute film produced in collaboration with the MIT Media Lab and the FAccT conference.

About

The WAO is a crowdsourced auditing collaboration.

Investigating black-box platform algorithms, such as those used by Uber and DoorDash, faces major challenges in accessing the data necessary for a meaningful audit. To solve this, we’re developing tools and support for workers and allies to crowdsource data and investigate the black-box algorithmic systems behind the platforms that determine pay, schedule, and more, in the platform economy and beyond. We launched the WAO in 2022. We are currently a nonprofit initiative with funding from the Mozilla Tech Fund 2023 "Auditing AI" cohort.

Team

We're a team of applied and academic researchers supporting workers and allies

Samantha Dalal University of Colorado Boulder

Danny Spitzberg University of California Berkeley

Dana Calacci Pennsylvania State University

Varun Rao Princeton University

Andrés Monroy-Hernández Princeton University

Contact

We help workers and allies audit platform algorithms and AI

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