Does Predictive Policing Restrict Our Human Rights?

The right to respect for private and family life, as defined in Article 8 of the European Convention On Human Rights, is under threat from the use of artificial intelligence (AI). Technology companies, therefore, need to factor human rights law into the design of their software.

AI is currently being used as a way for technology to act in an informed way, tailored to individual experiences and situations. This requires huge amounts of data, both public and personal, to be collected. Whilst some of this data is collected with our consent (we all click agree on end-user licenses when we sign up to apps, social media and websites), some data is being collected without our knowledge. This means that areas of our lives that we deem to be private can now be subject to surveillance by corporations and even the state itself.

Predictive Policing is the idea that we can use huge amounts of data, gathered and processed in real-time by AI, in order to determine potential future events. An advantage of this is that criminal activities may become easier to predict. The less-obvious disadvantage is that individuals deemed to be "likely" to act in a criminal way, could be subject to surveillance, without any evidence of past criminal activity. Not only that, but research suggests that AI often factors race, socio-economic status and gender into its predictive algorithm, making it inherently discriminatory.

Furthermore, the courts, or perhaps even the police may end up determining guilt before the individual has done anything wrong or has had the opportunity to seek legal advice and representation, restricting their rights under Article 6, the right to a fair trial.

The rights enshrined under Article 8, can only be restricted by a public authority if it is in the interests of national security, public safety, the economic well-being of the country, to prevent crime, to protect morals, or to protect the rights and freedoms of others.

But at what cost?

You can read more in this article here:

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/police-big-data-technology-predict-crime-hotspot-mapping-rusi-report-research-minority-report-a7963706.html