3 ms·

Reminds me of the British Post Office scandal: > More than 700 branch managers were given criminal convictions when faulty accounting software made it look as

Reminds me of the British Post Office scandal: > More than 700 branch managers were given criminal convictions when faulty accounting software made it look as though money was missing from their sites. https://www.bbc.com/news/business-56718036 https://www.bbc.com/news/business-56718036

jimlongton 4y ago
That scandal is different in nature but just as egregious. It didn't involve fancy ML or algorithms. The Post Office and Fujitsu knew the system was broken (no correct tracking of transactions) and maliciously prosecuted hundreds of people to cover up their enormous failure. "Expert witnesses" lied on the stand, investigations were obstructed and paperwork burned.
- EdwardDiego 4y ago
  Are there more details on that somewhere? Feels like something that an investigative journalist (or, I guess these days, podcaster) would've dug right into the guts of.
  - synotna2 4y ago
    There is a very good book that covers it very well: the great post office scandal Hard to read without boiling your blood
    - EdwardDiego 4y ago
      Cheers!
  - arp242 4y ago
    People had been doing that since at least 2011 (there were some rumblings before, but no in-depth reporting by the likes of the BBC AFAIK). Still took close to 10 years to resolve the matter... You can read a report at e.g. https://www.private-eye.co.uk/pictures/special_reports/justice-lost-in-the-post.pdf https://www.private-eye.co.uk/pictures/special_reports/justi... As well as Wikipedia of course https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Post_Office_scandal https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Post_Office_scandal
    - EdwardDiego 4y ago
      ...holy crap, that Private Eye article, just wow.
  - roywiggins 4y ago
    There is a BBC podcast, "The Great Post Office Trial." You can find an RSS feed for it here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000jf7j/episodes/downloads https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000jf7j/episodes/downloads There is also a book by the same reporter.
    - EdwardDiego 4y ago
      Thanks!
EdwardDiego 4y ago
I'd love to know exactly how that system was so egregiously wrong, especially around the testing of it, and deployment. I've always been frustrated that you can make millions writing horribly flawed software for government and get away with it. I'm also frustrated that I'm morally not able to pursue that same business model.

jimlongton 4y ago

That scandal is different in nature but just as egregious. It didn't involve fancy ML or algorithms. The Post Office and Fujitsu knew the system was broken (no correct tracking of transactions) and maliciously prosecuted hundreds of people to cover up their enormous failure. "Expert witnesses" lied on the stand, investigations were obstructed and paperwork burned.

EdwardDiego 4y ago
Are there more details on that somewhere? Feels like something that an investigative journalist (or, I guess these days, podcaster) would've dug right into the guts of.
- synotna2 4y ago
  There is a very good book that covers it very well: the great post office scandal Hard to read without boiling your blood
  - EdwardDiego 4y ago
    Cheers!
- arp242 4y ago
  People had been doing that since at least 2011 (there were some rumblings before, but no in-depth reporting by the likes of the BBC AFAIK). Still took close to 10 years to resolve the matter... You can read a report at e.g. https://www.private-eye.co.uk/pictures/special_reports/justice-lost-in-the-post.pdf https://www.private-eye.co.uk/pictures/special_reports/justi... As well as Wikipedia of course https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Post_Office_scandal https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Post_Office_scandal
  - EdwardDiego 4y ago
    ...holy crap, that Private Eye article, just wow.
- roywiggins 4y ago
  There is a BBC podcast, "The Great Post Office Trial." You can find an RSS feed for it here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000jf7j/episodes/downloads https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000jf7j/episodes/downloads There is also a book by the same reporter.
  - EdwardDiego 4y ago
    Thanks!

EdwardDiego 4y ago

I'd love to know exactly how that system was so egregiously wrong, especially around the testing of it, and deployment. I've always been frustrated that you can make millions writing horribly flawed software for government and get away with it. I'm also frustrated that I'm morally not able to pursue that same business model.