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(Mis)Uses of Technology

by Mike Masnick

Wed, Jan 21st 2004 9:57am





Crime Prediction Machine Being Used To Stop Shoplifters

from the minority-report? dept

Over in the UK, they've apparently built up a database program that can predict shoplifting patterns to the point that they can warn stores to be on the lookout. They don't really describe how it works, but suggest that it includes the crime patterns of a few thousand shoplifters, and from that, they believe they can predict how future shoplifting sprees will progress.

5 Comments | Leave a Comment..


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  1.  

    Does this worry anyone else?

    identicon
    Cowardly Anonymous, Jan 21st, 2004 @ 10:17am

    "The database system ... is based on Microsoft Access."
    Nothing says "fit for the enterprise", "robust", and "dependable" like MS Access. Don't get me wrong, I'm not anti-Microsoft per se, but it always surprises me to see people using Access in a multi-user, enterprise environment and it makes me a little nervous to see it used for predictive analysis in conjuction with law enforcement.

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  2.  

    Re: Does this worry anyone else?

    identicon
    dorpus, Jan 21st, 2004 @ 11:45am

    As opposed to Oracle, which requires an army of administrators, another army of developers, and crashes all the time anyway?

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  3.  

    Re: Does this worry anyone else?

    identicon
    Cowardly Anonymous, Jan 21st, 2004 @ 12:11pm

    Your experience with Oracle is obviously different from mine -- which is admittedly limited. But there are a vast number of RDBMS's on the market. My comment was only meant to highlight the fact that I'd be skeptical of a system designed to predict criminal behavior using ANY tools not designed for a large-scale multi-user environment. I'm simply hesitant about the reliability and accuracy of desktop data engine being used for something so critical.

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  4.  

    Re: Does this worry anyone else?

    identicon
    dorpus, Jan 21st, 2004 @ 2:45pm

    If it comes as a ready-made package that fits on a desktop, and only needs updates in the forms of periodic downloads from the main server, then Access can do the job. A retail store is not going to want an enterprise server with an army of support personnel.

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  5.  

    Re: Does this worry anyone else?

    identicon
    Cowardly Anonymous, Jan 22nd, 2004 @ 7:42am

    How did we move from law enforcement to retail?

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]


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