The Breakdown
How Do I Prepare My Phone for a Protest?
Simple steps to take before hitting the streets
Maddy Varner
Investigative Data Journalist
Maddy Varner was an investigative data journalist for The Markup. She left in May 2023.
Maddy extracts datasets from public documents and databases to help build a more concrete understanding of how organizations use technology to predict and affect behavior—and the problems in those assumptions.
Before The Markup, she was a researcher at ProPublica, where she was on a team that won a Loeb Award for Beat Reporting in 2017 for “Monetizing Hate,” a series of stories that examined Facebook’s ad practices.
Locked Out
Access Denied: Faulty Automated Background Checks Freeze Out Renters
Computer algorithms that scan everything from terror watch lists to eviction records spit out flawed tenant screening reports. And almost nobody is watching
Allstate’s Algorithm
Texas Drivers Sue Allstate over Secret “Suckers List"
A joint investigation by The Markup and Consumer Reports was cited in a lawsuit over discriminatory car insurance rates
Coronavirus
Want to Find a Misinformed Public? Facebook's Already Done It
While vowing to police COVID-19 misinformation on its platform, Facebook let advertisers target users interested in “pseudoscience”
Coronavirus
Can You Get a Coronavirus Test? It May Depend on Where You Live
Five scenarios that show the differences in states’ testing algorithms
Show Your WorkCoronavirus
How We Analyzed States’ Coronavirus Testing Plans
Coronavirus
Amazon’s Shifting Definition of What Is "Essential"
Currently that appears to include a 10-pack of rubber chickens
The Breakdown
My Boss Wants Me to Use My Fingerprint to Clock In. Is That Legal?
You don’t always have to give your boss the finger
Show Your WorkAllstate’s Algorithm
How We Analyzed Allstate’s Car Insurance Algorithm
By parsing a rare document containing fine details of the company’s auto insurance pricing, we found stark differences in how high proposed price hikes were allowed to rise
Allstate’s Algorithm
Suckers List: How Allstate's Secret Auto Insurance Algorithm Squeezes Big Spenders
Insurers are supposed to price based on risk, but Allstate’s algorithm put a thumb on the scale
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