This Bot Club takes a critical look at the social effects of predicting crime using algorithms. With lectures by Nirit Peled and Fieke Jansen.

The Netherlands leads the way in using algorithms to predict potential crime. While different methods are employed, the Crime Anticipation System is used nationwide, focussing mainly on the location and context of a crime. For this purpose data is collected on the place, time, and nature of crimes as well as circumstances such as weather conditions. A machine learning system then identifies patterns in the data in order to better control the deployment of the police. Another method focuses on the statistics of perpetration, tracking citizens' lives to create data that can map the patterns associated with high chances of criminal behaviour. This data only 1 partly relates to an individual’s own actions as it also includes events related to them, and they consequently have no influence on whether or not they end up on a list of potential criminals.

It is well known that algorithmic models are just as inadequate as the data that fuels them. Who decides what data is seen as relevant? What is the impact of the prediction of crime on crime prevention? How does this form of profiling affect the rights and freedoms of citizens?

Nirit Peled
Nirit Peled is a filmmaker from Israel, living in the Netherlands. She makes documentaries for VPRO Tegenlicht (informative Dutch TV programme) and teaches at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie. She has also worked on numerous political, cultural projects with inner city youth, both in the Netherlands and abroad. Her documentaries seek to create dialogue, confrontation and communication.

Fieke Jansen
Fieke Jansen is a PhD Candidate at the Data Justice Lab of Cardiff University, where she looks at data justice in the context of policing and at how data driven decision making creates new systemic injustices for targeted communities in Europe. Jansen also engages in projects related to privacy, digital security, responsible data, data protection and human rights.

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