Crime Prediction Technology: Peeping Tom on Steroids?

Do we pay police to arrest us before we commit a crime or to protect our right to privacy—and are we guilty until proven innocent?

In the movie Minority Report there was a pre-crime unit that would use computerized databases to file all kinds of data on every citizen and then use this data to form a behavioral profile for the typical criminal. Supposedly "intelligent" computer algorithms would then be run against every citizen to identify those people most likely to commit a crime and arrest them...BEFORE they commit the crime.

Proponents argue that this would be a valuable tool for the police to round up pre-criminals in your neighborhood before they can do you or your children any harm. Sounds angelic, no?

The problem is, as Wired magazine editor and security consultant Bruce Schneier has mathematically demonstrated, that at best even the most rigorously tested algorithms would be no more accurate than flipping a coin in predicting whether you are likely to commit a crime. Even so some police still argue for the technology. Check out this Fox News clip for more on this hot topic.