[srgseg]

If it's impossible to reverse the tide, what if this could become a database of innocence instead of a database of guilt?

Instead of cops pulling over some poor innocent guy every few weeks because he has a suspicious looking beaten up car, instead the police computer would green flag the person. The records might show that:

1. CCTV shows the person has not been driving in the vicinity of any crime they might currently be looking for suspects in connection with

2. The person has been stopped before, but was not involved in any criminal activity. This prevents unintentional repeated harassment.

3. The person has no known associations with any people involved in criminal activity.

Just like Uber, we'd be glad people were recording feedback about us because it helps people get a ride even in a high crime area where taxis would be otherwise afraid or unwilling to service.

[7373737373]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Credit_System

Such a system will be used and abused for political purposes eventually.

[srgseg]

Maybe the solution would be to have Swiss style direct democracy so that people could directly approve or disapprove of any particular system of data collection.

[linkregister]

The likelihood of Swiss-style direct democracy being instituted in the United States is low. From the Federalist Papers onward, protection from the "tyranny of the majority" of minority interests has been been fundamental to the U.S. political system. The system of checks and balances was primarily instituted as a prevention against a tyrannical legislature, not the Executive. There would be intense pushback from both major political parties, political science academics, think tanks, and lobbyist firms.

Using current events as an example, I don't think it would be out of the realm of possibility for a national referendum to pass that called for mandatory citizenship checks of people who appeared to be not born in the United States. Direct democracy works for homogenous populations, but I doubt it is the right fit for the United States.

[trendia]

Unfortunately, direct democracy would reduce the power of current legislators, so it is unlikely that our political system will change.

[hga]

As the Instapundit puts it about many "obvious" solutions to problems, they "provide insufficient opportunities for graft".

[packetized]

Pulling someone over for having a 'suspicious looking beaten up car' is part of the problem. While I applaud you looking at this from a practical, real-world point of view (I've been the guy in that beaten up car, an '83 Cutlass Supreme), I believe that you might have forgotten about that whole "presumption of innocence" thing granted to residents of the US.

[trendia]

If we had a benevolent artificial intelligence and the data were locked away from any humans, I'd be OK with that.

Unfortunately, humans ruin a lot of things that would otherwise be pretty good.

For instance, this kind of data would also make it far easier to frame someone, since you'd be able to craft your story around the narrative of their actions.

[fluxquanta]

This sounds almost exactly like the plot of the anime "Psycho-Pass".

The story takes place in an authoritarian future dystopia, where omnipresent public sensors continuously scan the Psycho-Pass of every citizen in range. The sensors measure mental state, personality, and the probability that the citizen will commit crimes, alerting authorities when someone exceeds accepted norms. To enforce order, the officers of the Public Safety Bureau carry hand weapons called Dominators.

The weapons themselves only activate if the intended target has a sufficiently high "crime coefficient", as dictated by a central AI. It's pretty interesting (if you can tolerate a pretty high level of graphic animated violence).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psycho-Pass