Big Data, Big Problems? Policy Challenges for Researchers and the Police

Session Submission Type: Roundtable Session

Abstract

In an era in which metadata and algorithms can define our lives, how will researchers decide when to increase data availability and when to block it? When law enforcement agencies collect data, what guides decisions about what to collect and the conditions under which it will be released? What happens when researchers use law enforcement data that can affect the personal lives of subjects? In the 21st century, is there such a thing as privacy either for ourselves or our subjects? What policies could guide decisions about whether and when to gather, analyze, and use big data?

Roundtable participants will address these questions based on their own professional experiences.

James Lynch, University of Maryland – former Director of Bureau of Justice Statistics, United States Department of Justice

Candace McCoy, The Graduate Center and John Jay College, City University of New York – served for 20 years as member of university-wide Institutional Review Boards at Rutgers and CUNY

Ira Promisel, St. Thomas College – served as Chief Technical Sergeant, New York State Police (retired)

Lee Tien, senior staff attorney, Electronic Frontier Foundation – litigates policy-relevant cases on privacy and technology

Sub Unit

• Area VIII: Roundtables

Participants

• James Patrick Lynch, University of Maryland

• Candace McCoy, John Jay College of Criminal Justice / CUNY Graduate Center