Weapons of Math Destruction: How Big Data Increases Inequality and Threatens Democracy (33 page)

interest rates that average
574
percent:
Gwen Ifill and Andrew Schmertz, “Fighting the Debt Trap of Triple-Digit Interest Rate Payday Loads,”
PBS Newshour
, January 6, 2016,
www.pbs.+org/+newshour/+bb/+fighting-+the-+debt-+trap-+of-+triple-+digit-+interest-+rate-+payday-+loans/
.

In
2015
, the Federal Trade Commission:
Lindsay Wise, “Feds Charge Data Broker with Selling Consumer Info to Scammers,”
McClatchyDC
, August 12, 2015,
www.mcclatchydc.+com/+news/+nation-+world/+national/+article30862680.+html
.

CHAPTER 5

The small city of Reading:
Rob Engle, “The Guilded [
sic
] Age in Reading Pennsylvania,”
Historical Review of Berks County
, Summer 2005,
www.berkshistory.+org/+multimedia/+articles/+the-+guilded-+age-+in-+reading-+pennsylvania/
.

the highest poverty rate:
Sabrina Tavernise, “Reading, Pa., Knew It Was Poor. Now It Knows Just How Poor,”
New York Times
, September 26, 2011,
www.nytimes.+com/+2011/+09/+27/+us/+reading-+pa-+tops-+list-+poverty-+list-+census-+shows.+html
.

crime prediction software made by PredPol:
Steven Henshaw, “Homicides in Reading Rise, Other Crimes Down, Police Say,”
Reading Eagle
, August 30, 2015,
www.readingeagle.+com/+news/+article/+homicides-+in-+reading-+rise-+other-+crimes-+down-+police-+say
.

Philadelphia police are using a local product:
Juliana Reyes, “Philly Police Will Be First Big City Cops to Use Azavea’s Crime Predicting Software,”
Technically Philly
, November 7, 2013,
http://technical.+ly/+philly/+2013/+11/+07/+azavea-+philly-+police-+crime-+prediction-+software/
.

based on seismic software:
Nate Berg, “Predicting Crime, LAPD-Style,”
Guardian
, June 25, 2014,
www.theguardian.+com/+cities/+2014/+jun/+25/+predicting-+crime-+lapd-+los-+angeles-+police-+data-+analysis-+algorithm-+minority-+report
.

Jeffrey Brantingham, the UCLA anthropology professor:
Jeff Brantingham, PredPol’s chief of research and development, phone interview by author, February 3, 2015.

criminologist named George Kelling:
George Kelling and James Wilson, “Broken Windows: The Police and Neighborhood Safety,”
Atlantic Monthly
, March 1982,
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1982/03/broken-windows/304465/
.

zero-tolerance campaigns:
Judith Greene, “Zero Tolerance: A Case Study of Police Policies and Practices in New York City,”
Crime and Delinquency
45 (April 1999): 171–87, doi:10.1177/0011128799045 002001.

Freakonomics
:
Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner,
Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything
(New York: William Morrow, 2005).

police in the British city of Kent:
Berg, “Predicting Crime, LAPD-Style.”

PredPol squares were ten times as efficient:
Kent Police, “PredPol Operational Review,” 2014,
www.statewatch.org/docbin/uk-2014-kent-police-predpol-op-review.pdf
.

the practice had drastically increased:
Jeffrey Bellin, “The Inverse Relationship between the Constitutionality and Effectiveness of New York City ‘Stop and Frisk,’ ”
Boston University Law Review
94 (May 6, 2014): 1495, William and Mary Law School Research Paper No. 09-274,
http://ssrn.com/abstract=2413935
.

the number of stops had risen by
600
percent:
Ryan Devereaux, “Scrutiny Mounts as NYPD ‘Stop-and-Frisk’ Searches Hit Record High,”
Guardian
, February 14, 2012,
www.theguardian.com/world/2012/feb/14/nypd-stop-frisk-record-high
.

Homicides, which had reached
2,245
in
1990: David Goodman and Al Baker, “Murders in New York Drop to a Record Low, but Officers Aren’t Celebrating,”
New York Times
, December 31, 2014,
www.nytimes.com/2015/01/01/nyregion/new-york-city-murders-fall-but-the-police-arent-celebrating.html
.

an overwhelming majority of these encounters—about
85
percent:
Jason Oberholtzer, “Stop-and-Frisk by the Numbers,”
Forbes
, July 17, 2012,
www.forbes.com/sites/jasonoberholtzer/2012/07/17/stop-and-frisk-by-the-numbers/
.

Only
0
.
1
percent, or one of one thousand stopped:
Eric T. Schneiderman, “A Report on Arrests Arising from the New York City Police Department’s Stop-and-Frisk Practices,” New York State Office of the Attorney General, Civil Rights Bureau, November 2013,
www.ag.ny.gov/pdfs/OAG_REPORT_ON_SQF_PRACTICES_NOV_2013.pdf
.

The NYCLU sued the Bloomberg administration:
“The Bronx Defenders Hails Today’s ‘Stop and Frisk’ Decision by Federal Judge Scheindlin,”
Bronx Defenders
, August 12, 2013,
www.bronxdefenders.org/the-bronx-defenders-hails-todays-stop-and-frisk-decision-by-federal-judge-scheindlin/
.

federal judge Shira A. Scheindlin ruled:
Ibid.

Unfair: The New Science of Criminal Injustice
:
Adam Benforado,
Unfair: The New Science of Criminal Injustice
(New York: Crown, 2015).

Privately run prisons:
Peter Kerwin, “Study Finds Private Prisons Keep Inmates Longer, Without Reducing Future Crime,”
University of Wisconsin-Madison News
, June 10, 2015,
http://news.wisc.edu/study-finds-private-prisons-keep-inmates-longer-without-reducing-future-crime/
.

private prisons make profits only when running at high capacity:
Julia Bowling, “Do Private Prison Contracts Fuel Mass Incarceration?,”
Brennan Center for Justice Blog
, September 20, 2013,
www.brennancenter.org/blog/do-private-prison-contracts-fuel-mass-incarceration
.

Michigan economics professor:
Allison Schrager, “In America, Mass Incarceration Has Caused More Crime Than It’s Prevented,”
Quartz
, July 22, 2015,
http://qz.com/458675/in-america-mass-incarceration-has-caused-more-crime-than-its-prevented/
.

San Diego police used this facial recognition program:
Timothy Williams, “Facial Recognition Software Moves from Overseas Wars to Local Police,”
New York Times
, August 12, 2015,
www.nytimes.com/2015/08/13/us/facial-recognition-software-moves-from-overseas-wars-to-local-police.html
.

Officials in Boston, for example:
Anthony Rivas, “Boston Police Used Facial Recognition Software on Concertgoers; Will It Really Stop Suspicious Activity or Just Encroach upon Our Rights?,”
Medical Daily
, August 18, 2014,
www.medicaldaily.com/boston-police-used-facial-recognition-software-concertgoers-will-it-really-stop-suspicious-298540
.

In
2009
, the Chicago Police Department:
Matt Stroud, “The Minority Report: Chicago’s New Police Computer Predicts Crimes, but Is It Racist?,”
Verge
, February 19, 2014,
www.theverge.com/2014/2/19/5419854/the-minority-report-this-computer-predicts-crime-but-is-it-racist
.

the approximately four hundred people:
Ibid.

a twenty-two-year-old high school dropout:
Ibid.

CHAPTER 6

a young man named Kyle Behm:
Lauren Weber and Elizabeth Dwoskin, “Are Workplace Personality Tests Fair?,”
Wall Street Journal
, September 29, 2014,
www.wsj.com/articles/are-workplace-personality-tests-fair-1412044257
.

the “Five Factor Model” test:
Roland Behm, phone interview by author, April 1, 2015.

Behm went on to send notices:
Weber and Dwoskin, “Are Workplace Personality Tests Fair?”

considered a medical exam:
ADA National Network, “What Limitations Does the ADA Impose on Medical Examinations and Inquiries About Disability?,” accessed January 9, 2016,
https://adata.org/faq/what-limitations-does-ada-impose-medical-examinations-and-inquiries-about-disability
.

Founded in the
1970
s:
“Kronos History: The Early Years,” Kronos website, accessed January 9, 2016,
www.kronos.com/about/history.aspx
.

Workforce Ready HR:
“Workforce Ready HR,” Kronos website, accessed January 9, 2016,
www.kronos.com/products/smb-solutions/workforce-ready/products/hr.aspx
.

$
500
million annual business:
Weber and Dwoskin, “Are Workplace Personality Tests Fair?”

60
to
70
percent of prospective workers:
Ibid.

Griggs v. Duke Power Company:
NAACP Legal Defense Fund, “Case: Landmark: Griggs v. Duke Power Co.,” NAACP LDF website, accessed January 9, 2016,
www.naacpldf.org/case/griggs-v-duke-power-co
.

Frank Schmidt, a business professor:
Whitney Martin, “The Problem with Using Personality Tests for Hiring,”
Harvard Business Review
, August 27, 2014,
https://hbr.org/2014/08/the-problem-with-using-personality-tests-for-hiring
.