What really pisses me off is how we fail again and again to ask the question of whether these entities should have been doing what they were doing in the first place, if it even can be done safely. Facebook, Equifax, police surveillance and misconduct, totally unaccountable “forensics” techniques—in all these cases where incalculable damage is done in totally predictable ways, we only address it reactively (if we address it at all) and completely fail to fix or even really consider the root cause(s). It’s like we have this huge blind spot where we take as a given that established entities doing thing(s) just have a right to keep doing them, regardless of any other factors.
In this case, forensics “experts” (essentially witch doctors) and fly-by-night black-box “labs” with unproven methodologies an undergrad intern might have developed in a week or two are institutionalized in our courts. This has happened because there is zero oversight and zero accountability for their claims, and lives are destroyed as a result.
It is insane not to pursue criminal charges for these indiscriminate arsonists of justice—if they can’t do what they claim to do fairly and accurately, they should not do it. They don’t have a right to “try” just because it will make them money, regardless of the consequences.
It’s like a hack to get around the whole “reasonable doubt” thing: just sequester all that pesky doubt in a black box so that people can’t see it, and if anyone asks just play dumb.
No software is perfect. It's unreasonable for any bug to be considered criminal negligence, or else the entire software development profession would be in prison.
Instead, software that can result in life or death or prison scenarios needs to have tested, documented, verified quality controls, just like we do for vehicles.
But that means courts or the legislature have to decide what those standards are.
I would like a thorough analysis of everything you've ever learned that led you to this conclusion, and if we find one mistake in your lifetime of learning then this is also criminal negligence on your part.