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Proxy variable

By Updated

A feature that carries the information of a protected characteristic, such as postcode for ethnicity, so that a model can discriminate without using the attribute itself. Proxy tests look for features that predict the protected attribute 1.

Developed in
ch. 16, Protected characteristics, proxies and the data you need to test
Chapters
ch. 16, Fairness & XAI · ch. 20, Existing Law
Contrast with
Proxy label
Source
1 numbered reference, listed below

Where it is used

The term is not used under this name in running prose; the sections listed under "Developed in" treat it.

  • Proxy scan

    A test that trains a model to predict a protected attribute from a system's features; features that predict it strongly are flagged as proxies to justify or…

Sources

  1. [1] "Dissecting racial bias in an algorithm used to manage the health of populations" (Obermeyer, Powers, Vogeli and Mullainathan; Science 366(6464):447-453; cost as a proxy for need). Science. 2019-10-25. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aax2342 (verified: primary)

Definitions of legal terms paraphrase the cited text, which governs. Dated statements are as of .

Cite this term

García Aibar, J. (2026). Proxy variable. In AI Governance Engineering: The Thesis & Body of Knowledge (v0.5.0), Glossary. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22956197. https://aigovernanceengineer.com/glossary/proxy-variable. CC BY 4.0

BibTeX

@misc{aige2026proxyvariable,
  author  = {Jorge García Aibar},
  title   = {{Proxy variable}},
  note    = {Glossary, AI Governance Engineering: The Thesis \& Body of Knowledge, version 0.5.0},
  year    = {2026},
  doi     = {10.5281/zenodo.22956197},
  url     = {https://aigovernanceengineer.com/glossary/proxy-variable}
}