1. TRACKING PEOPLE: LOOKING TO THE FUTURE
Professor Anthea Hucklesby
Centre for Criminal Justice Studies, University of Leeds, UK 1

2. Aim of the project
To develop a network to critically explore the ethical, legal, social and technical issues arising from the current and future use of wearable tagging and tracking devices in spheres including criminal justice, terrorism, immigration, health and local authority care of children and young people.

3. Outcomes so far 4 events with 240 attendees
24 speakers including policy-makers, police, equipment providers, academics, children’s services, voluntary sector, a solicitor and a doctor
Diverse fields discussed including: criminal justice, domestic violence, mental health, immigration, safeguarding of individuals with dementia and children, terrorism and research
Main outcomes
Networking
Cross-sector learning
Website:

4. Still to come
Briefing papers
Book
Articles
Research collaborations

5. Non-removable Devices

6. Range of available devices
Criminal justice – unwilling wearers
Elderly and child – forgetfulness
Need to wear it at all times – not just outdoors.
Implants could do this …..

7. Medical Devices

8. Technologies Generally reliable
Short battery life hampers useability and effectiveness of GPS
Questions about accuracy and ability to reflect reality
Context is missing
Only as good as the people operating it and the back up/support available
Technologies should not replace but supplement human interactions
Accuracy – doesn’t pinpoint people but provides the place they are most likely to be – location technologies measure the probability that an individual is in a given place at a given time – mistakes happen. Also doesn’t tell the whole story – says that a person has stopped but not why or what they are doing.

9. Purposes Monitoring whereabouts/behaviour Control
Supporting compliance
Greater freedom
Rehabilitation/resettlement
Safeguarding
Others
wearer
Instrumental
Costs
Increasing capacity of humans
Increasing efficiency
Reducing populations in detention

10. challenges Misuse Individuals - abusive relationships State agencies
Private sector
Stigmatisation
Proportionality
Over-stated claims
Inaccurate perceptions of infallibility
Providing adequate support structures
Equality of access to technologies
Diversity
Across domains
Across populations
Different devices/language for different purposes

11. Under-explored areas and research
Impacts of wearing equipment on users and others
Nudge factor of equipment
Potential of machine-learning
Does ethics/privacy matter to wearers?
Inter-disciplinary/sector working
Data
availability
access
publication
Interdisciplinary/sector working – mix expertise leads to better solutions.

12. Private sector involvement
Continuum from providing equipment and storing the raw data to providing a full service
Full service includes monitoring centres and contact with individuals, families and statutory agencies.
Complicates delivery models, data protection , responsibilities and so on
Intensifies and adds to ethical and legal issues
Ethical and legal issues
- data, responsibilities when things go wrong etc.

13. Sector integration
Growth of tagging and tracking applications is resulting in greater penetration of security companies into the fabric of society.
The same companies are often providing equipment for range of domains e.g. control and care applications.
Extension of the concept of the ‘Commercial corrections complex’ identified by Lilly and colleagues into new domains
Creating powerful organisations who hold significant amounts of data on individuals, influence governments’ decision-making and policies and decisions effecting individuals’ liberty and well-being
Lack of inter-sector oversight and accountability mechanisms

14. Is tracking the best solution?
Finally
We need to keep asking:
Is tracking the best solution?
Immigration – movements etc but if we allowed them to have bank accounts, accommodation etc i.e. lead normal lives then would not need tracking devices to be worn.

15. Website: http://trackingpeople.leeds.ac.uk
@TrackingLeeds