For any of you who were reading my previous blog, you might remember me talking about my visit to the Tuscaloosa County Jail... for any of you who I might be doing business with in the future, no I didn't get arrested, it was part of my exhchange program (yep that's how exchange programs work when you come from the convict nation...). Anyway among the plethora of incredibly disturbing things we saw at the jail (blood covered shanks, Alabaman prison guards and a particularly delightful smelling home brew...) potentially the most disturbing was their website which offers any user the opportunity to access an arrest inquiry database which gives you access to the full name, a photo, what they have been arrested for and how much bond they paid... Wait a minute you say, surely you made a mistake, surely they if they were going to list people they would only tarnish the names of those that have actually been convicted! Nope anyone that has been arrested whether falsely or not will appear.
The reason I started thinking about this was in the context of generating business ideas and thinking about Google Map Mash-ups, I thought of a great concept which I am going to call Possebook basically it allows the user to access a map of convicted or non-convicted 'fellons' and a social network through which they can organise a good old fashion Posse to get out there and exercise some Cowboy style justice. Obviously the aggrieved can post rewards with the site taking a commission for all successful captures/kills and the network would provide the ideal advertising platform for weapons manufacturers and distributors thus there is a definite revenue stream.
Now obviously (I hope) this is a ridiculous concept but take a look at the next link down on the website and you can access something almost on a par - the sex offender map. Now I am not entireley certain where I stand on this - if there is a convicted sex offender in my neighbourhood a) do I want to know about it, b) do I have the right to know about it considering they have served their time and been released - indicating that they are reformed?
Now let me just me put this in perspective with a quote from the Tuscaloosa County Jail Website
"On August 5, 2002 the Tuscaloosa County Jail received Accreditation from the American Correctional Association. This makes the Tuscaloosa County Jail the first and ONLY county jail in the State of Alabama to receive Accreditation."
Clearly this is an exemplary institution demonstrating best practice for correctional facilities. If this is best practice, then Possebook which at first seemed like a ridiculous and unethical use of Web 2.0 technologies seems to be middle of the road in terms of unethical uses of a technology that has the potential to change the world for the better (see the social entrepreneurship links section for examples). Perhaps a better use - particularly in Lund would be some way of tracking bicycles, theft of which seems to be exponentially out of proportion to any other form of crime in the city...
However discussions in class (and over a few beers after class) one topic that continues to come up is the ingenuity and entrepreneurial skills that criminals apply to their trade. Which made me think what nefarious uses could criminals make of Web 2.0 technologies and wikinomics principles? Could increased connectivity and social networking represent a boon for drug traffickers? How would wikifraud help ur average scamster?
I'd love to hear your suggestions (don't worry I'll ensure your annonimity...)
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