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Internet used to be delivered through unreliable 28.8kbps modems. I didn't think for a second that we should cease using the Internet. Bone marrow transplants

by sadris 8y ago

Internet used to be delivered through unreliable 28.8kbps modems. I didn't think for a second that we should cease using the Internet. Bone marrow transplants for cancer treatment used to have a 20% failure rate. I didn't think for a second that we should cease using bone marrow transplants. And yet why does the ACLU think we should cease using a technology to deliver potential location hits on wanted criminals because its not 100% perfect?

mrweasel 8y ago
The problem is that it's only 95% perfect in this case (28 out of 534, being identified as criminals). That a pretty big margin of error when the result is possible arrest. The scope of its use is also in question, sure if you looking a someone who kidnapped a child, 95% is good enough. If you use it for any minor violation you risk harassing a large percentage of the population, who then will need to prove that it wasn't them. Some will flat out deny being the guilty party, and there's a 5% margin of error, so they may very well be right. Then what will you do, drop the charge? In that case what's the point. Or will you spend police time finding evidence that some random person stole $10 worth of good at the super market? The cost associated with being just 5% wrong is huge, and that's not including the emotional damage done to falsely accused citizens, or the decrease level of trust in law enforcement.
- sadris 8y ago
  They weren't "identified as criminals." They were identified as possibly being criminals. (And as other posters have shown, they were identified with only 80% confidence as being a criminal.) And an officer can review the evidence presented by the report and make a human determination to follow up with a physical arrest.
  - SmellyGeekBoy 8y ago
    Perhaps more of an issue in a country where being arrested can involve being murdered by the police.
  - akira2501 8y ago
    > They were identified as possibly being criminals. And you've highlighted the _exact_ problem here. That is not at all what has happened, they have been identified as "possibly having a similar appearance to one or more particular images of a suspected criminal." > And an officer can review the evidence presented by the report and make a human determination to follow up with a physical arrest. Which already presumes that the system will only have false positives. When the system produces false negatives, then this mode of investigation is entirely flawed.
alphabettsy 8y ago
I’m pretty certain they take issue with law enforcement using the technology that’s not 100% and without oversight because they have the ability to seriously alter someone’s life.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]

by sadris 8y ago

mrweasel 8y ago

The problem is that it's only 95% perfect in this case (28 out of 534, being identified as criminals). That a pretty big margin of error when the result is possible arrest. The scope of its use is also in question, sure if you looking a someone who kidnapped a child, 95% is good enough. If you use it for any minor violation you risk harassing a large percentage of the population, who then will need to prove that it wasn't them. Some will flat out deny being the guilty party, and there's a 5% margin of error, so they may very well be right. Then what will you do, drop the charge? In that case what's the point. Or will you spend police time finding evidence that some random person stole $10 worth of good at the super market? The cost associated with being just 5% wrong is huge, and that's not including the emotional damage done to falsely accused citizens, or the decrease level of trust in law enforcement.

sadris 8y ago
They weren't "identified as criminals." They were identified as possibly being criminals. (And as other posters have shown, they were identified with only 80% confidence as being a criminal.) And an officer can review the evidence presented by the report and make a human determination to follow up with a physical arrest.
- SmellyGeekBoy 8y ago
  Perhaps more of an issue in a country where being arrested can involve being murdered by the police.
- akira2501 8y ago
  > They were identified as possibly being criminals. And you've highlighted the _exact_ problem here. That is not at all what has happened, they have been identified as "possibly having a similar appearance to one or more particular images of a suspected criminal." > And an officer can review the evidence presented by the report and make a human determination to follow up with a physical arrest. Which already presumes that the system will only have false positives. When the system produces false negatives, then this mode of investigation is entirely flawed.

alphabettsy 8y ago

I’m pretty certain they take issue with law enforcement using the technology that’s not 100% and without oversight because they have the ability to seriously alter someone’s life.

deleted 8y ago
[deleted]