Fuss and commotion around a new app called Vigilante. This app should be able to help anyone who is in need. Ideal or nightmare scenario?
A typical American video about the future of fighting against crime. The Vigilante app allows anyone to use an app that could, for example, detect criminals or help people who are in trouble. It seems ideal, but there are also other scenarios that need to be outlined and considered. However, the app shows the capability of technologies and how our existing assumptions are being challenged. In this case, the relationship between police and society.
The provocative and (again) very American tagline: “Can injustice survive transparency”? describes the Vigilante app. It makes everyone a potential life saver. But it can also ensure that people end up unnecessarily in situations that are not desirable. It is just easy to highlight the negative side of the app. It is just not as optimistic as it may seem in the video.
The latest news that has been released about the app is that Apple has removed it from the app store because of its concerns about the safety and intentions of the app. The company who made the app says that everyone who already used the app before, can still continue with using it. New York is already using the app.
This app is just a small example of many that follow. We have seen this trend growing for years. People interfere increasingly in the research process and work that is meant for police/security services. Another example is Crowdsolve.
CrowdSolve is a new Indiegogo campaign to build an app for online crowds of citizen investigators. Inspired by the podcast Serial, the platform would allow users to collect public documents and crack the case where real investigators have allegedly botched the job. (Via: The Observer)
Technology and a changing mindset around authority performs these developments. With all the consequences. It ensures that governments must easily adapt a very different attitude and mindset. These developments will significantly increase the upcoming years, and we will also experience the negative sides of it. But it remains as an unstoppable trend.
