"On its surface, the term ‘big data’ refers both to very large data sets, as well as the tools used to manipulate and analyze them. This concept, however, does not just refer to the harvested information – it also refers to the motivations behind what harvesting that information is supposed to achieve. When data is collected en masse, and algorithms (a series of instructions that tell a computer what to do) cross reference data both within and between datasets, the computational software processing the data identifies patterns within them. It is this notion of “identifying patterns” that serves
as the backbone of predictive justice.
Predictive justice uses data on past occurrences or behaviours to make decisions about the future, such as who and where will be policed, how an individual should be sentenced given the risk they pose to others, and when someone should be released from prison....
Unfortunately, there has been a lack of both awareness and scholarship regarding how this technology is being employed across Canadian police departments, justice agencies, and courts....
These predictive technologies are appealing because they claim to make justice a speedier, more egalitarian affair; they take complicated and potentially-biased discretionary decisions – such as who to police and who to assess as “higher-risk offenders” - and reduce these decisions to scores, numbers, or dots on a map. In so doing, these technologies can incur greater costs than benefits."
Read on...
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Showing posts with label big data. Show all posts
Showing posts with label big data. Show all posts
Busted by Big Data: Algorithms Could Make Cities Safer - But They Can't Protect Us From Policing's Worst Instincts
"By combining huge tranches of data and highly sophisticated algorithms, predictive policing appears to hold out the science-fiction promise that technology could, one day, spit out 100 percent accurate prophecies concerning the location of future crimes. The latest iteration of these analytics can’t ID a killer-to-be, but it can offer insight into what areas are potential sites for crime by drawing on information in everything from historical records to live social-media posts.
The technology, however, has raised tough questions about whether hidden biases in these systems will lead to even more over-policing of racialized and lower-income communities. In such cases, the result can turn into a feedback loop: the algorithms recommend a heightened police presence in response to elevated arrest rates that can be attributed to a heightened police presence.
Andrew Ferguson, who teaches law at the University of the District of Columbia and is the author of The Rise of Big Data Policing, goes further. He says that current predictive systems use social media and other deep wells of personal information to predict whether certain offenders may commit future crimes—an Orwellian scenario. Canadian governments and civilian oversight bodies, however, have done little to establish clear policies differentiating appropriate and inappropriate uses for these technologies. It is little wonder that critics are becoming increasingly concerned that police departments fitted out with big-data systems could use them to pre-emptively target members of the public. Can we really trust crime fighting to an algorithm?"
Related:
"By combining huge tranches of data and highly sophisticated algorithms, predictive policing appears to hold out the science-fiction promise that technology could, one day, spit out 100 percent accurate prophecies concerning the location of future crimes. The latest iteration of these analytics can’t ID a killer-to-be, but it can offer insight into what areas are potential sites for crime by drawing on information in everything from historical records to live social-media posts.
The technology, however, has raised tough questions about whether hidden biases in these systems will lead to even more over-policing of racialized and lower-income communities. In such cases, the result can turn into a feedback loop: the algorithms recommend a heightened police presence in response to elevated arrest rates that can be attributed to a heightened police presence.
Andrew Ferguson, who teaches law at the University of the District of Columbia and is the author of The Rise of Big Data Policing, goes further. He says that current predictive systems use social media and other deep wells of personal information to predict whether certain offenders may commit future crimes—an Orwellian scenario. Canadian governments and civilian oversight bodies, however, have done little to establish clear policies differentiating appropriate and inappropriate uses for these technologies. It is little wonder that critics are becoming increasingly concerned that police departments fitted out with big-data systems could use them to pre-emptively target members of the public. Can we really trust crime fighting to an algorithm?"
Related:
Keep Police Use of Big Data to "Acceptable Boundaries," Says Study
"Despite evidence that state and federal law enforcement agencies have contracted with data analytics firms to mine information from social media users, policymakers have still not moved to protect Americans’ constitutional rights to freedom of speech and association from the misuse of 'Big Data,' according to an expert on information and privacy law.
The revelations underline the need for new approaches to transparency in order to ensure that police use of Big Data remains within 'acceptable boundaries,' Teresa Scassa, Canada Research Chair in Information Law and Policy at the University of Ottawa, wrote in a paper posted in Scripted."
View the Full Text Article
"Despite evidence that state and federal law enforcement agencies have contracted with data analytics firms to mine information from social media users, policymakers have still not moved to protect Americans’ constitutional rights to freedom of speech and association from the misuse of 'Big Data,' according to an expert on information and privacy law.
The revelations underline the need for new approaches to transparency in order to ensure that police use of Big Data remains within 'acceptable boundaries,' Teresa Scassa, Canada Research Chair in Information Law and Policy at the University of Ottawa, wrote in a paper posted in Scripted."
View the Full Text Article
China: Police Big Data Systems Violate Privacy, Target Dissent
"The Chinese government should stop building big data policing platforms that aggregate and analyze massive amounts of citizens’ personal information, Human Rights Watch said today. This abusive 'Police Cloud' system is designed to track and predict the activities of activists, dissidents, and ethnic minorities, including those authorities say have 'extreme thoughts,' among other functions.
China has no enforceable protections for privacy rights against state surveillance.
'It is frightening that Chinese authorities are collecting and centralizing ever more information about hundreds of millions of ordinary people, identifying persons who deviate from what they determine to be ‘normal thought,’ and then surveilling them,' said Sophie Richardson, China director at Human Rights Watch. 'Until China has meaningful privacy rights and an accountable police force, the government should immediately cease these efforts.'”
"The Chinese government should stop building big data policing platforms that aggregate and analyze massive amounts of citizens’ personal information, Human Rights Watch said today. This abusive 'Police Cloud' system is designed to track and predict the activities of activists, dissidents, and ethnic minorities, including those authorities say have 'extreme thoughts,' among other functions.
China has no enforceable protections for privacy rights against state surveillance.
'It is frightening that Chinese authorities are collecting and centralizing ever more information about hundreds of millions of ordinary people, identifying persons who deviate from what they determine to be ‘normal thought,’ and then surveilling them,' said Sophie Richardson, China director at Human Rights Watch. 'Until China has meaningful privacy rights and an accountable police force, the government should immediately cease these efforts.'”
Code-Dependent: Pros and Cons of the Algorithmic Age
"Algorithms are aimed at optimizing everything. They can save lives, make things easier and conquer chaos. Still, experts worry they can also put too much control in the hands of corporations and governments, perpetuate bias, create filter bubbles, cut choices, creativity and serendipity, and could result in greater unemployment."
"Algorithms are aimed at optimizing everything. They can save lives, make things easier and conquer chaos. Still, experts worry they can also put too much control in the hands of corporations and governments, perpetuate bias, create filter bubbles, cut choices, creativity and serendipity, and could result in greater unemployment."
Big Data on the Beat: Predictive Policing has Arrived
"'Predictive policing used to be the future,' said career cop William Bratton, 'and now it is the present.' In mid-May 2015, Bratton—the visionary former chief of police in Boston, New York City, Los Angeles, and currently again top cop in New York—was talking about his early days as an officer in Boston, about what worked and what didn’t, and about what can work better in the future. That future will involve predictive policing, which Bratton is bringing to New York (a pilot program was launched last summer).
Predictive policing, which Bratton helped develop when he headed the Los Angeles Police Department during the 2000s, seeks not just to fight crime but to anticipate and prevent it. It uses cutting-edge technology and Big Data—some of which comes from past analysis and some of which is new, streaming in real time to an onboard computer in a patrol car—to identify high-risk areas, which precincts can then flood with police. The aim is not to make arrests but to deter crime before it occurs. Predictive policing relies crucially on community engagement—it can work only when the police are seen as part of the neighborhood, rather than as an occupying presence. At a time when police-community relations are frayed and many cities face rising violent-crime rates as well as renewed concern about terrorist threats, the approach may provide a better way forward."
Related Article: Does Predictive Policing Lead to More Police in Black Communities? Readers React
"'Predictive policing used to be the future,' said career cop William Bratton, 'and now it is the present.' In mid-May 2015, Bratton—the visionary former chief of police in Boston, New York City, Los Angeles, and currently again top cop in New York—was talking about his early days as an officer in Boston, about what worked and what didn’t, and about what can work better in the future. That future will involve predictive policing, which Bratton is bringing to New York (a pilot program was launched last summer).
Predictive policing, which Bratton helped develop when he headed the Los Angeles Police Department during the 2000s, seeks not just to fight crime but to anticipate and prevent it. It uses cutting-edge technology and Big Data—some of which comes from past analysis and some of which is new, streaming in real time to an onboard computer in a patrol car—to identify high-risk areas, which precincts can then flood with police. The aim is not to make arrests but to deter crime before it occurs. Predictive policing relies crucially on community engagement—it can work only when the police are seen as part of the neighborhood, rather than as an occupying presence. At a time when police-community relations are frayed and many cities face rising violent-crime rates as well as renewed concern about terrorist threats, the approach may provide a better way forward."
Related Article: Does Predictive Policing Lead to More Police in Black Communities? Readers React
Big Data and the Future for Privacy
"In our inevitable big data future, critics and skeptics argue that privacy will have no place. We disagree. When properly understood, privacy rules will be an essential and valuable part of our digital future, especially if we wish to retain the human values on which our political, social, and economic institutions have been built. In this paper, we make three simple points. First, we need to think differently about 'privacy.' Privacy' is not merely about keeping secrets, but about the rules we use to regulate information, which is and always has been in intermediate states between totally secret and known to all. Privacy rules are information rules, and in an information society, information rules are inevitable. Second, human values rather than privacy for privacy’s sake should animate our information rules. These must include protections for identity, equality, security, and trust. Third, we argue that privacy in our big data future can and must be secured in a variety of ways. Formal legal regulation will be necessary, but so too will 'soft' regulation by entities like the Federal Trade Commission, and by the development of richer notions of big data ethics."
"In our inevitable big data future, critics and skeptics argue that privacy will have no place. We disagree. When properly understood, privacy rules will be an essential and valuable part of our digital future, especially if we wish to retain the human values on which our political, social, and economic institutions have been built. In this paper, we make three simple points. First, we need to think differently about 'privacy.' Privacy' is not merely about keeping secrets, but about the rules we use to regulate information, which is and always has been in intermediate states between totally secret and known to all. Privacy rules are information rules, and in an information society, information rules are inevitable. Second, human values rather than privacy for privacy’s sake should animate our information rules. These must include protections for identity, equality, security, and trust. Third, we argue that privacy in our big data future can and must be secured in a variety of ways. Formal legal regulation will be necessary, but so too will 'soft' regulation by entities like the Federal Trade Commission, and by the development of richer notions of big data ethics."
Civil Rights, Big Data, and Our Algorithmic Future
The key decisions that shape people's lives - decisions about jobs, healthcare, housing, education, criminal justice, and other key areas - are, more and more often, being made automatically by computers. As a result, a growing number of important conversations about civil rights, which focus on how these decision are made, are also becoming discussions about how computer systems work.
The key decisions that shape people's lives - decisions about jobs, healthcare, housing, education, criminal justice, and other key areas - are, more and more often, being made automatically by computers. As a result, a growing number of important conversations about civil rights, which focus on how these decision are made, are also becoming discussions about how computer systems work.
Prisons
Women Inmates On The Rise
The number of women in federal prisons could go up with the abolition of early parole provisions by the federal government, according to a University of Toronto criminology professor.
The number and proportion of female inmates had been increasing in both provincial and federal prisons even before the parole changes.....
And with the end of the federal accelerated parole system, the numbers could go even higher, says Kelly Hannah-Moffat, a professor and director of the Centre for Criminology and Sociolegal Studies at U of T.
Beyond Youth Custody. Resettlement Of Girls And Young Women: Research Report
This report addresses a worrying gap in the knowledge about the effective resettlement of girls and young women. Reviewing research literature in a number of relevant areas, it cross-references evidence of what works in the resettlement of young people with what we know about the wider need of girls and young women. This iterative synthesis approach thus provides a gender-sensitive approach to inform policy and practice development in resettlement for this specific group.
In New York's Largest Jail, Teens Face "Brute Force" And Intimidation That Horrifies Even Prosecutors
In the second-largest jail in the nation, teens are beaten more frequently than not. They are placed in solitary confinement for disciplinary infractions that would be considered typical adolescent behavior outside of jail. And inmates, medical staff, and even teachers, are intimidated out of reporting violence by corrections officers, according to a scathing new Department of Justice report.
Read the Dept. of Justice Report
This New Jersey Reform Stops Judges From Jailing Some Defendants Just Because They Are Poor
In New Jersey, inmates spend an average of ten months behind bars just waiting to go to trial. Many have the option to post bail. But a study last year found that some 40 percent of those in pretrial detention would have been released had they been able to afford bail.
On Monday, the New Jersey legislature passed a package of bills to remove financial need from bail determinations, with the strong support of Gov. Chris Christie (R).
Holder: Data-Driven Prison Sentencing "Unfair" To Minorities
Attorney General Eric Holder on Friday expressed concern about the fairness of judges who rely on big data to sentence criminal defendants, saying the use of such “risk assessments” in several states could exacerbate racial disparities among the prison population.
Holder, who made the comments during a Philadelphia speech to criminal defense lawyers, said the use of such data results in unfair treatment of minorities.
New support for released prisoners in south Etobicoke http://t.co/PhFp5k54Yn via @torontostar
— Crim Library UTL (@CrimLib) August 4, 2014
Women Inmates On The Rise
The number of women in federal prisons could go up with the abolition of early parole provisions by the federal government, according to a University of Toronto criminology professor.
The number and proportion of female inmates had been increasing in both provincial and federal prisons even before the parole changes.....
And with the end of the federal accelerated parole system, the numbers could go even higher, says Kelly Hannah-Moffat, a professor and director of the Centre for Criminology and Sociolegal Studies at U of T.
Beyond Youth Custody. Resettlement Of Girls And Young Women: Research Report
This report addresses a worrying gap in the knowledge about the effective resettlement of girls and young women. Reviewing research literature in a number of relevant areas, it cross-references evidence of what works in the resettlement of young people with what we know about the wider need of girls and young women. This iterative synthesis approach thus provides a gender-sensitive approach to inform policy and practice development in resettlement for this specific group.
In New York's Largest Jail, Teens Face "Brute Force" And Intimidation That Horrifies Even Prosecutors
In the second-largest jail in the nation, teens are beaten more frequently than not. They are placed in solitary confinement for disciplinary infractions that would be considered typical adolescent behavior outside of jail. And inmates, medical staff, and even teachers, are intimidated out of reporting violence by corrections officers, according to a scathing new Department of Justice report.
Read the Dept. of Justice Report
This New Jersey Reform Stops Judges From Jailing Some Defendants Just Because They Are Poor
In New Jersey, inmates spend an average of ten months behind bars just waiting to go to trial. Many have the option to post bail. But a study last year found that some 40 percent of those in pretrial detention would have been released had they been able to afford bail.
On Monday, the New Jersey legislature passed a package of bills to remove financial need from bail determinations, with the strong support of Gov. Chris Christie (R).
Holder: Data-Driven Prison Sentencing "Unfair" To Minorities
Attorney General Eric Holder on Friday expressed concern about the fairness of judges who rely on big data to sentence criminal defendants, saying the use of such “risk assessments” in several states could exacerbate racial disparities among the prison population.
Holder, who made the comments during a Philadelphia speech to criminal defense lawyers, said the use of such data results in unfair treatment of minorities.
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