Parolees say technical issues of Guardian, an app that uses GPS and biometric data for tracking, are causing problems like losing jobs and reincarceration
On the day Layla got out of prison and back to her home in Georgia, she was told she would need to purchase a smartphone … Tweets: @ruthbrarian , @j0hnnyxm4s , @howelloneill , @originalesushi , @zackwhittaker , @butnickdavis , @pebonilla , @tr1ckykid , @molly__o , and @angelsdiaz_ Tweets: @ruthbrarian : How long is it gonna take until “why don't you make an app for it?” is seen for what it is: a proposal to write lazy, sloppy, under-tested code code which should never be given a critical role in voting or parole or other life/society-critical things? https://gizmodo.com/... @j0hnnyxm4s : I am legit sweaty and having a mini panic attack from reading this, and it's not even something that affects me. https://twitter.com/... Patrick Howell O'Neill / @howelloneill : This is such great reporting about a buggy surveillance app parolees are forced to download: When Your Freedom Depends on an App https://gizmodo.com/... https://twitter.com/... E-Sushi / @originalesushi : This is bad... very bad. And they use it anyway. I have to say, reading the article I couldn't stop myself from thinking: this is almost like China, it's just limited to former prisoners and coded so badly that it hurts. https://gizmodo.com/... Zack Whittaker / @zackwhittaker : This is incredible if not terrifying reporting by @molly__o and @dmehro. A widely-used app used for monitoring parolees is badly flawed and are causing some to lose their jobs and get reincarcerated. If there's one thing you read today, it's this. https://gizmodo.com/... Vanessa / @butnickdavis : Well this is duly horrifying. After working with tech and gov't for more than 15 years, the idea of ceding your life to the intersection of the two is beyond terrible. https://gizmodo.com/... Peter Bonilla / @pebonilla : The miserable life of parolees monitored by the state through the Guardian smartphone app—expensive as hell, invasive, badly designed, and so unreliable people are terrified to leave their homes for fear its capriciousness will land them back inside. https://gizmodo.com/... https://twitter.com/... @tr1ckykid : Ok we definitely have to put a stop to this crap. https://gizmodo.com/... Molly Osberg / @molly__o : gave an assist to this very good @dmehro story about a buggy, invasive app that is psychologically terrorizing parolees and perhaps landing them back in prison https://gizmodo.com/... ngel S. Daz / @angelsdiaz_ : Read this story about life under app-based surveillance: -False alerts that users are violating stay-at-home orders -Fails to recognize biometric data it relies on -Wildly invasive access to phone data -Debt trap -Based on sloppy code rushed to market https://gizmodo.com/...