Predictive Policing

[davidbfpo]

A lengthy article in The Guardian, sub-titled:

Smart technology and the sort of big data available to social networking sites are helping police target crime before it happens. But is this ethical?

He starts with:

The police have a very bright future ahead of them – and not just because they can now look up potential suspects on Google. As they embrace the latest technologies, their work is bound to become easier and more effective, raising thorny questions about privacy, civil liberties, and due process.

Link no longer works due to copyright and a search on Evgeny Morozov, the author's blog failed.

The author correctly draws attention to the leviathans of public use IT, for example Facebook & Amazon and asks who reviews their algorithms, for their ethical basis and effectiveness.

Given the clear failure to win the so called 'war on drugs', which has had massive funding and much hi-tech - why would this predictive policing be effective?