FTFY
"Indigenous Australians account for 15 times as many offensive language offences as would be expected for their population."
http://www5.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/AltLawJl/2004/53.html
:sigh:
> (a) the technology is being deployed in specific environments where there really is a credible threat of criminal behaviour,
You need to define what credible threat is, pretty exactly. Just a thief? A terrorist? I think we all agree that this would be nice if there was foreknowledge of an imminent attack. BUT I think there still is a danger in setting them up for only that kind of use. We know that if we give police (or anyone really) tools, they will use them (why wouldn't they?). So having the ability uses to more abuse of use. But also as time goes on and people get used to it, the regulations relax.
So in this terrorist scenario I would be okay with bringing in cameras, or hooking into the already existing system, but it would need to tear down and be required to only come out when time is of the essence.
As we say in America, I'd rather a hundred guilty men go free than one innocent man be stripped of their freedom.
As we say in America, I'd rather a hundred guilty men go free than one innocent man be stripped of their freedom.
Anyways, I always wondered if the discretion allowed to police engenders more societal problems than it solves. I imagine this would have a similar effect.
(a) the technology is being deployed in specific environments where there really is a credible threat of criminal behaviour, and
(b) it is being used only as an initial filter prior to normal, lawful police action (or inaction) with normal safeguards, and
(c) the target data set used for comparisons is generated on a lawful and justified basis
then I'm not sure there is anything inherently unethical about this sort of technology. Is it really any different to having police officers at the entrances to a stadium with mugshots of known hooligans who have been identified while discussing trouble-making online ahead of the match?
Whether it is technically capable enough to be useful and cost-effective is a different matter, and it's also a test that might give a different result tomorrow.
Whether it is possible to have sufficient safeguards that a system could reliably meet the standards above is also a different question.
And whether the public would trust that those safeguards existed and have confidence that the standards were being met is another question again.