“There’s a significant lack of transparency around police use of predictive policing systems in the UK. Most people don’t even know about their use in policing… People don’t know, if they are ever stopped and searched by police, it’s as a result of a predictive profiling or risk assessment system… So there is a significant lack of transparency, which is particularly worrying given the lack of regulation.”
Ilyas Nagdee, Amnesty International
Episode 12 of the Guardians of Data Podcast is out now. In this episode we discuss something that sounds like science fiction, but is already part of everyday policing in the UK; predictive policing. These are tools that use data and algorithms to help the police forecast crime, where it might happen and sometimes who might be involved. The idea is to use resources efficiently and cut crime.
But a recent report by Amnesty International, (“Automated Racism”) argues that predictive policing tools aren’t neutral; they may be reinforcing and scaling existing inequalities. The report argues that the data they use is biased, particularly against black and racialised communities in deprived areas.
In this conversation, we unpack what these tools actually are, how they’re being used, whether they work, and what the risks are, especially when combined with other technologies like facial recognition.
Our guest is Ilyas Nagdee who is a human rights campaigner and the Racial Justice Director at Amnesty International UK. He has also written for The Guardian and is the co-author of a book entitled, Race to the Bottom: Reclaiming Antiracism, a critical study of anti-racist politics in the UK.
Listen on your preferred platform via our podcast page, or download the episode directly.
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Previous episodes of the Guardians of Data podcast have featured Caroline Wong discussing the impact of AI on cyber security, Emma Martins explaining the importance of data protection legislation, Tahir Latif talking about responsible AI deployment and Jen Persson explaining the privacy implications of the Government’s new plans for children’s data.
