The thing is, there was evidence it wasn't working properly. The court rule doesn't change anything.
In the middle of the prosecutions they even settled with some post masters who were able to independently find that the Horizon system worked incorrectly and then they continued to go after other post masters who hadn't figured it out.
The Post Office Scandal [1] is not some story about the dangers of computers being wrong. It's a story about how covering up evidence can allow you to gain a wrongful conviction.
If a system that could be used to criminally convict someone of a serious crime is in place it should be held to a similar standard of systems such as flight computers or self-driving cars.
We must verify that the evaluations it makes are correct and are based on true actuals not errors. As modern software becomes more ingrained into our live, we will have to have to clamp down on the wild west of software to protect people because the consequences could be dire.
We already do the same thing with the gas and electric in our homes so why does that not extended to ALPRs and auditing systems ect.
lesuorac•1mo ago
The issue isn't that the computer was wrong though. The issue was that it was wrong and nobody cared.
For systems with high standards like aircraft there's nothing that stops somebody from say removing a door and then just not recording that it happened. It doesn't matter how many checklists you have for aircraft if they're not followed.
It just doesn't matter what verification processes you have if they're not followed. The court rule does not affect this.
lesuorac•1mo ago
In the middle of the prosecutions they even settled with some post masters who were able to independently find that the Horizon system worked incorrectly and then they continued to go after other post masters who hadn't figured it out.
The Post Office Scandal [1] is not some story about the dangers of computers being wrong. It's a story about how covering up evidence can allow you to gain a wrongful conviction.
[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Post_Office_scandal
vablings•1mo ago
If a system that could be used to criminally convict someone of a serious crime is in place it should be held to a similar standard of systems such as flight computers or self-driving cars.
We must verify that the evaluations it makes are correct and are based on true actuals not errors. As modern software becomes more ingrained into our live, we will have to have to clamp down on the wild west of software to protect people because the consequences could be dire.
We already do the same thing with the gas and electric in our homes so why does that not extended to ALPRs and auditing systems ect.
lesuorac•1mo ago
For systems with high standards like aircraft there's nothing that stops somebody from say removing a door and then just not recording that it happened. It doesn't matter how many checklists you have for aircraft if they're not followed.
It just doesn't matter what verification processes you have if they're not followed. The court rule does not affect this.