A Wall Street regulator is said to be opening a probe into Goldman Sachs, Bloomberg reports this weekend. This investigation comes after a series of viral tweets last week alleged that gender discrimination was affecting the algorithms used to determine credit limits for Apple Card.
On Thursday, David Heinemeier Hansson took to Twitter to question why Apple Card gave him a credit limit 20 times higher than his wife. According to Hansson, he and his wife file joint tax returns, and his wife actually has a better credit score than he does.
Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak also joined in, saying that he got a credit limit 10 times higher than his wife, even though they share all of their assets. Wozniak wrote:
Hansson told Bloomberg that after he shared the story on Twitter, and it “became a PR issue,” his wife’s credit limit was increased without need for any additional documentation:
In a statement, a spokesperson for the New York Department of Financial Services said that the department is conducting an investigation to ensure all consumers are treated equally regardless of sex. The spokesperson points out that an algorithm resulting in discriminatory treatment of any protected class of people is a violation of New York law, whether it’s intentional or not.
You can read Hansson’s full Twitter thread here.
