want to avoid high crime areas ?

dogtowner

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there's an app for that (in development)

as expected, some are upset about it


DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) – An in-development Microsoft smart phone app designed to help drivers and pedestrians avoid unsafe neighborhoods is proving controversial among some minority rights groups that find the software potentially discriminatory.

The as-of-yet unnamed product is being referred to as the “Avoid The Ghetto” app by those who are concerned with where it will guide users.

“I’m going to be up in arms about it if it happens,” said Dallas NAACP President Juanita Wallace.
Wallace spent her afternoon at a rally on Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. and said she felt safe there, but fears the app may project otherwise.

“Can you imagine me not being able to go to MLK Blvd. because my GPS says that’s a dangerous crime area? I can’t even imagine that,” she said.

Microsoft says the app will use crime statistics to determine what parts of town are to be avoided. But it’s unclear where the data will come from and how it will be interpreted.

Microsoft has filed a patent for the app, but the actual product is unnamed and not available yet.
Opponents like Wallace fear it could hurt minority communities.

“It’s almost like gerrymandering,” she said. “It’s stereotyping for sure and without a doubt; I can’t emphasize enough, it’s discriminatory.”

hmmm so its discriminatory to tell people where crime is bad. perhaps if these communitie3s don't want to be seen as dangerous they should no longer tolerate the crimial element.
 
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Well at least the real estate agents will be able to offer this as a more useful reply than their usual "I can't really comment on that" spiel.

Although thinking about it, they probably will just stick to their spiel to avoid losing the sale in some cases lol.
 
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The problem as I see it is that all areas have high crime just different sorts.

If you are worried about being mugged then you need to avoid certain kinds of places while if you are worried about being victim to identity fraud you need to worry about other areas. And the heart of this is that if you are worried about being a victim of black on white crime then there is an entirely different area you need to fear.
 
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