An evaluation of the implications along with a piece of imaginative future technology (advanced ankle monitors) as well as solutions to the harmful piece of technology.
Present Day Technology
Currently, numerous prison systems around the world use ankle monitoring technology. Its primary purpose is to track the locations of the recently incarcerated. Another purpose is to take the place of bail for a suspect prior to trial. In addition to being tracked, parolees in the United States must also avoid criminal activity, refrain from contacting victims related to their crime, avoid drug and, in some cases, alcohol use, stay within the area of a specified perimeter, and periodically check in with their parole officers. In the future, it is very probable that parolee monitoring may expand to more invasive surveillance and lie detecting to ensure that the parolee is abiding by their instated rules.
Future Technology
Within the next century, ankle monitors will evolve into a dystopian technology that can both track and discipline their wearers. To circumvent society’s current need for parole officers and periodic drug testing, institutions will implement futuristic ankle monitors that are visible, shock-inducing, and transmits more information on their wearer to authorities than ever before. These devices will deliver shocks when they detect any illicit behavior. Illicit behavior including, but not limited to, entry into unauthorized areas, the use of drugs and/or alcohol, contact with other criminals and even lying. Additional features include location tracking, video and audio surveillance, as well as a lie detector that administers shocks when it detects dishonesty. The lie detector works by tracking the wearer’s heart rate and delivers a shock when the wearer’s heart rate speeds up.
Implications
Futuristic ankle monitors have several concerning implications. At present, existing ankle monitors have numerous social consequences. First, they are a physical sign of one’s past wrongdoing. Those who interact with the wearer may make the assumption that the wearer is a criminal, even if they are innocent and simply awaiting trial. Wearers risk their reputations and their jobs, especially if current employers or coworkers catch sight of their monitors. Similarly, potential employers may conclude that they do not want to employ someone whom they see as a criminal. These situations can result in a parolee’s dismissal from their current job and difficulty finding a new one.
In addition, one of the uses for ankle monitors is to replace bail for suspects prior to trial. In the case of using monitors over bail, the wearer could be innocent of the charges against them (innocent until proven guilty), but are subject to wearing ankle monitors so that they can go home and go to work as they wait for trial. This unfairly targets the lower income who may not be able to come up with bail money. Those who see them in an ankle monitor may make harmful assumptions. Furthermore, ankle monitors are not free and may cost the user a large sum of money. In the article called “‘Digital shackles’: the unexpected cruelty of ankle monitors” Willard Birts is forced to pay $30 a day to have “privilege” to use his. In addition to the cost, these events can cause major changes in a person’s life. It can cause wearers to lose their jobs, which can then lead to homelessness, especially if they are already of a lower income bracket, and pushes them to turn to crimes, such as drug dealing, in an attempt to compensate for payment or lack of employment (Ajimotokin, 2).
According to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), “African Americans are incarcerated at more than 5 times the rate of whites” (Criminal Justice Fact Sheet). Due to the fact that minorities and black people are subjected to more police encounters, they are therefore more likely to be negatively impacted by the technologies instituted in the prison system. Implications with this ankle monitoring system mirrors Simone Brown’s statements on lantern laws in his article on black luminosity. “The black body, technologically enhanced by way of a simple device made for a visual surplus where technology met surveillance, made the business of tea a white enterprise and encoded white supremacy, as well as black luminosity, in law” (Brown, 553). By creating a device that further puts African Americans in a position where their actions are monitored creates a greater power imbalance, resembling early American racist culture.
Using big data surveillance to track parolees relies on the assumption that the data presented is accurate. Andrew Ferguson, author of ”The Rise of Big Data Policing” states that, “This data… can be wrong. The algorithmic correlations can be wrong. And if police act on that inaccurate data, lives and liberties can be lost” (Ferguson).
As for the electric shocks, the technology will not be able to tell when the wearer is actually lying or is otherwise excited, since it only tracks increases in heart rates. Lie detecting is already an inaccurate science and this method of “lie detecting” causes more harm than good. It will also particularly harm those who may have a preexisting heart condition.
Solution
To mitigate the negative effects of the ankle monitor, steps should be taken at both the physical and social level. First, the ankle monitor technology can be an implant device, removeable at any time, to lessen the insinuations made at the wearer’s reputation due to a visible ankle monitor. Theoretically, without a visible device, people on a day-to-day basis won’t treat the wearer any differently. Additionally, some of the features such as the lie detection and shock need to be eliminated due to their inhumane nature as well as their inaccuracies.
Due to the power given to the people monitoring, there needs to be a system in place to ensure that the system and power is not being abused. Specifically, tracking and surveillance of parolees must only be used in justified circumstances, similar to a search warrant, and continuous surveillance without cause is not to be allowed. With these changes implemented, the new implanted tracking system is less physically, socially, and psychologically harmful to the people involved.
