Submissions:2025/The Devil's in the Data
This submission has been noted and is pending review for WikiConference North America 2025.
Title:
- The Devil's in the Data
Type of session:
- Lecture (15-30 min)
Session theme(s):
- Credibility, Missing pieces
Abstract:
When it comes to quantifying public safety, crime statistics are the gold standard. But in this case, the cliché that “numbers don’t lie” couldn’t be further from the truth. The data and statistics that police departments peddle as fact are shaped by the surveillance technology that is increasingly deployed across the country. The concentration of surveillance tech in communities that are already overpoliced has created a skewed data feedback loop, where artificially inflated crime rates in low-income BIPOC communities justify ever more surveillance, further widening the crime rate and policing gap compared to less policed communities. This session brings together researchers, editors, and advocates for a conversation on navigating the relationship between statistics and truth; and will consider how Wikipedia authors and editors can confront biases in the data they may use.
Author name(s):
Wikimedia username(s):
Affiliated organization(s):
- Surveillance Technology Oversight Project
Estimated length of session
- 30 min
Will you be presenting remotely?
- I will present in-person
Okay to livestream?
- Livestreaming is okay
Previously presented?
- No, but the conversation will draw on the paper below!
Special requests: