IP: Re: Profiling, from the front lines

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

> From: "Daniel J. Weitzner" <djweitzner () w3 org>
> To: <Rohit () KnowNow com>
> Cc: <farber () cis upenn edu>
> Subject: Re: Profiling, from the front lines
>
>
> Hello Rohit,
>
> I just read you post to Farber's list. I feel terribly that this has
> happened to you. Somewhere in it you said that it might make statistically
> sense for you to be a selectee. While it might in some version of
> sensibility, I can't help but wondering whether it might just be that
> statistically profiling is the poor substitute for the high quality
> intelligence and police work that we really need to protect us all. When I
> read in the New York Times today that the envelop likely to have contained
> the anthrax spores that infected NBC employees actually sat around at the
> FBI office in New York for over two weeks unanalyzed, I wonder whether we're
> accepting large-scale violation of civil liberties (airport searches,
> reading email and web logs with a mere subpoena and no intervention from a
> judge, etc.) because we've lost confidence in law enforcement's ability to
> protect us by more careful, respectful means. I'm sure that I and others
> should be careful about second-guessing law enforcement efforts at a time
> like this, but I worry about the damage we do to the fabric of our very
> diverse communities at a time when we most need to be strong together.
>
> Best well and have courage,
>
> Danny
>
> --
> Daniel J. Weitzner                              +1.617.253.8036 (MIT)
> World Wide Web Consortium                       +1.202.364.4750 (DC)
> Technology & Society Domain Leader              <djweitzner () w3 org>
> http://www.w3.org/People/Weitzner.html


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