The UK government is developing a "murder prediction" algorithm that could potentially use the personal data of people who have previously committed crimes and about whom authorities have information to identify potential murderers, The Guardian reports.
The researchers will use an algorithm to analyze data from thousands of people, including victims of crime, to identify those at greatest risk of committing serious violent crimes. The project was initially called "homicide prediction project," but was later renamed "sharing data to improve risk assessment."
The UK Ministry of Justice says the programme will "review offender characteristics that increase the risk of committing homicide" and "explore alternative and innovative data science techniques to risk assessment of homicide." The project has the potential to improve risk assessment of serious crime and help protect the public.
The Justice Department also hopes the program will help improve public safety, but activists have called it "chilling and dystopian." The project's existence was revealed by the rights group Statewatch.
Statewatch, in particular, claims that the project will use personal information from individuals without criminal convictions, including self-harm and domestic violence data. However, officials strongly deny this and emphasize that only data from individuals with at least one criminal conviction will be used.
By the way, this project was initiated by the Prime Minister's Office under Rishi Sunak, and currently the algorithm is being developed solely for research purposes.