title: Technically Wrong: Sexist Apps, Biased Algorithms, and Other Threats of Toxic Tech
author:  Sara Wachter-Boettcher 
description: Those with hyphenated names often encounter difficulty when filling out online forms, and there's usually no option in the drop-down menus for those who are multiracial. Social networks show us the year in review with jaunty music and animation, without acknowledging that some of our most popular posts may be about tragic events we don't want to remember. In straightforward prose, Wachter-Boettcher lays out a convincing and damning argument about the small daily failures and large systemic issues that stem from Silicon Valley's diversity problem. With plenty of examples and studies, she illustrates how systems are designed to be used by people like the creatorusually privileged cisgender heterosexual white men. Anyone else is seen as an "edge case" and not worth worrying about. Along the way Wachter-Boettcher thoroughly deconstructs many of the excuses offered for technology's lack of inclusivity, including the pipeline issue (or the idea that outside of white male demographics there isn't enough talent) and the concept that an algorithm can be neutral. VERDICT This engrossing volume is important for readers of all ages, especially the next generation of developers.Jennifer Rothschild, Arlington Public Library, VA
zlib_text: **Technically Wrong**
  
  Sexist Apps, Biased  
  Algorithms, and Other  
  Threats of Toxic Tech
  
   **Sara Wachter-Boettcher**
  
  ![](Images/image00145.jpeg)
  
  W. W. NORTON & COMPANY
  
   _INDEPENDENT PUBLISHERS SINCE 1923_
  
  NEW YORK LONDON
  
   _For Elena and Audrey, who remind me_  
   _that wrongs are always worth righting._
  
  Contents
  
   **1.** Welcome to the Machine
  
   **2.** Culture Misfit
  
   **3.** Normal People
  
   **4.** Select One
  
   **5.** Delighted to Death
  
   **6.** Tracked, Tagged, and Targeted
  
   **7.** Algorithmic Inequity
  
   **8.** Built to Break
  
   **9.** Meritocracy Now, Meritocracy Forever
  
   **10.** Technically Dangerous
  
  Acknowledgments
  
  Notes
  
  Index
  
  > > > Chapter 1
  
  > > >  **Welcome to the Machine**
  
  Open your phone’s app store or spend a day trawling the tech press, and you’ll
  probably end up a little excited, a little bewildered, and a lot overwhelmed.
  You can download an app to track your diet, adjust your thermostat, and find a
  dog walker. You can order dinner—and tip the delivery person