We would never allow a drug to be sold in the market without having gone through rigorous testing — not even in the context of a health crisis like the coronavirus pandemic. Then why do we allow algorithms that can be just as damaging as a potent drug to be let loose into the world without having undergone similarly rigorous testing? At the moment, anyone can design an algorithm and use it to make important decisions about people — whether they get a loan, or a job, or an apartment, or a prison sentence — without any oversight or any kind of evidence-based requirement. The general population is being used as guinea pigs.