Force gets flak for sorting offenders using 'crude' stereotypes
Feeding 'offensive' profiles through artificial intelligence to make decisions on freedom and justice is 'truly dystopian', says privacy groupA force trialling software to help custody sergeants make decisions has faced criticism for basing information on “primitive” stereotypes.
Durham Police has paid global data broker Experian for UK postcode stereotypes built on 850 million pieces of information to feed into an artificial intelligence (AI) tool.
An investigation carried out by privacy organisation Big Brother Watch, shows the force is programming Experian’s “Mosaic” data, which profiles every adult in the UK to classify UK postcodes, households and stereotypes, into its Harm Assessment Risk Tool (HART).
The 66 Mosaic categories include “Disconnected Youth”, “Asian Heritage” and “Dependent Greys.”
Durham Police paid £25,913 for the data, to help predict whether a suspect might be at low, medium or high risk of reoffending, by placing the information into the AI system.
The code includes the “demographic characteristics” of each stereotype – characterising Asian Heritage as “extended families” living in “inexpensive, close-packed Victorian terraces”, adding “when people do have jobs, they are generally in low paid routine occupations in transport or food service”.
Disconnected Youth are characterised as “avid texters” whose “wages are often low” - with first names like “Liam” and “Chelsea”. Whilst people called “Stacey” are likely to fall under “Families with Needs” and are “on benefits.”
The names “Abdi” and “Asha” fell under the “Crowded Kaleidoscope” category, described as multi-cultural families likely to live in “cramped and overcrowded flats.”
Silkie Carlo, Director of Big Brother Watch, said: “For a credit checking company to collect millions of pieces of information about us and sell profiles to the highest bidder is chilling. But for police to feed these crude and offensive profiles through artificial intelligence to make decisions on freedom and justice in the UK is truly dystopian.
“We wouldn’t accept people going through our bins to collect information about us. Nor should we accept multi-billion pound companies like Experian scavenging for information about us online or offline, whether for profit or policing.
“Parliament should urgently consider what place this big data and artificial intelligence has in our policing.”
Sheena Urwin, Head of Criminal Justice at Durham Constabulary, said: “The force entered into a contract with Experian using Mosaic Public Sector to better understand our communities and to improve our engagement – the data they provided helped us do that. Our aim is to reduce harm to the communities we serve and improve life chances for the people we come into contact with.
“We must stress that the HART tool contributes to the decision-making process by assessing the risk of reoffending; however, the final decision remains with the custody sergeant.
“We are continuing to evaluate the research with our academic partners.”
News Archive
- December 2023 (3)
- November 2023 (5)
- October 2023 (4)
- September 2023 (5)
- August 2023 (4)
- July 2023 (3)
- June 2023 (5)
- May 2023 (2)
- April 2023 (5)
- March 2023 (3)
- February 2023 (7)
- January 2023 (11)
- December 2022 (6)
- November 2022 (5)
- October 2022 (5)
- September 2022 (6)
- August 2022 (2)
- July 2022 (11)
- June 2022 (8)
- May 2022 (11)
- April 2022 (8)
- March 2022 (3)
- February 2022 (5)
- January 2022 (12)
- December 2021 (1)
- November 2021 (9)
- October 2021 (4)
- September 2021 (10)
- August 2021 (9)
- July 2021 (12)
- June 2021 (4)
- May 2021 (11)
- April 2021 (14)
- March 2021 (14)
- February 2021 (19)
- January 2021 (18)
- December 2020 (6)
- November 2020 (12)
- October 2020 (14)
- September 2020 (15)
- August 2020 (16)
- July 2020 (16)
- June 2020 (18)
- May 2020 (22)
- April 2020 (18)
- March 2020 (23)
- February 2020 (20)
- January 2020 (4)
- December 2019 (5)
- November 2019 (6)
- October 2019 (5)
- September 2019 (6)
- August 2019 (8)
- July 2019 (6)
- June 2019 (8)
- May 2019 (8)
- April 2019 (8)
- March 2019 (10)
- February 2019 (9)
- January 2019 (9)
- December 2018 (9)
- November 2018 (12)
- October 2018 (8)
- September 2018 (7)
- August 2018 (11)
- July 2018 (7)
- June 2018 (9)
- May 2018 (9)
- April 2018 (12)
- March 2018 (10)
- February 2018 (8)
- January 2018 (5)
- December 2017 (6)
- November 2017 (4)
- October 2017 (3)
- September 2017 (10)
- August 2017 (5)
- July 2017 (5)
- June 2017 (6)
- May 2017 (6)
- April 2017 (2)
- March 2017 (3)
- February 2017 (4)
- January 2017 (1)
- December 2016 (3)
- November 2016 (4)
- October 2016 (1)
- September 2016 (4)
- August 2016 (4)
- July 2016 (1)
- June 2016 (5)
- May 2016 (3)
- April 2016 (1)
- March 2016 (3)
- February 2016 (3)
- January 2016 (3)
- December 2015 (3)
- November 2015 (3)
- October 2015 (3)
- September 2015 (2)
- August 2015 (1)
- July 2015 (11)
- June 2015 (1)