This talk draws on ethnographic fieldwork conducted between January 2024 and March 2025 at Colorado Independent Drivers United’s (CIDU’s) deactivation clinic to examine how gig workers attempt to repair algorithmic harms in platform labor, specifically focusing on the implications for local government enforcement capacity. Deactivation is situated as an algorithmic harm and investigates how workers seek redress through grievance processes, using this case to illuminate broader challenges in establishing accountability mechanisms for algorithmic systems. Through participant observation and organizing work at CIDU’s clinic, Dalal demonstrates how the design of the platform appeals processes systematically forecloses accountability, creating technical and administrative barriers that prevent meaningful redress—including opaque processes, limited channels for grievance, and shifting evidentiary standards.

Building on the analysis of recent Colorado legislation that grants third-party resource centers the power to initiate private arbitration on behalf of deactivated drivers, this talk will primarily focus on identifying critical directions for future research on developing legal and administrative capacity within local government enforcement agencies.  Key research questions are outlined around how local governments can build institutional infrastructure to oversee algorithmic systems, establish evidentiary standards for algorithmic harm, and create effective enforcement mechanisms that bridge technical and legal domains.

Bio:

Samantha Dalal is a human-computer interaction researcher who studies and builds pathways for communities to participate in the design and monitoring of AI systems. Her research focuses on the future of work, specifically in the informal and platform economies. Dalal specializes in technology-policy research, having advised on and testified for AI policy bills in Colorado. She holds a Ph.D. in Information Science from the University of Colorado Boulder, where her doctoral research was supported by funding from the Mozilla Technology Fund and the CU Engage Community-Based Participatory Research fellowship. She received a B.A. from the University of California, Santa Barbara, where she double majored in economics and statistics.

In-person attendance is open to Princeton University faculty, staff and students.

This talk will be livestreamed and recorded. The recording will be posted to the CITP website, the Princeton University Media Central channel and the CITP YouTube channel.

If you need an accommodation for a disability please contact Jean Butcher at butcher@princeton.edu.

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