The United Kingdom (UK) government is developing a “murder prediction” programme which it hopes can use personal data of those known to the authorities to identify the people most likely to become killers. Researchers are alleged to be using algorithms to analyse the information of thousands of people, including victims of crime, as they try to identify those at greatest risk of committing serious violent offences.

    The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) says the scheme will “review offender characteristics that increase the risk of committing homicide” and “explore alternative and innovative data science techniques to risk assessment of homicide”. The project would “provide evidence towards improving risk assessment of serious crime and ultimately contribute to protecting the public via better analysis”, a spokesperson added.

    The MoJ hopes the project will help boost public safety, but campaigners have called it “chilling and dystopian”.

    Sofia Lyall, a researcher for Statewatch, the pressure group that discovered the existence of the project, said: “Time and again, research shows that algorithmic systems for ‘predicting’ crime are inherently flawed. This latest model […] will reinforce and magnify the structural discrimination underpinning the criminal legal system.”

    “Like other systems of its kind, it will code in bias towards racialised and low-income communities. Building an automated tool to profile people as violent criminals is deeply wrong, and using such sensitive data on mental health, addiction and disability is highly intrusive and alarming,” added Lyall.

Internet: <https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news> (adapted).