reclaimthenet on Nostr: A man’s freedom is on the line in New Jersey, and the prosecution’s key witness? ...

A man’s freedom is on the line in New Jersey, and the prosecution’s key witness? An algorithm. Not a transparent one. Not a vetted one. A faceless, corporate-built black box the state refuses to explain.

In State v. Miles, the cops fed Instagram photos into mystery facial recognition software. It spat out a name; Tybear Miles. That was enough. No eyewitness. No fingerprints. Just a suggestion from an informant and a computer that might be more Magic 8-Ball than Sherlock Holmes.

Now, defense attorneys are asking for the basics of the software: error rates, testing methods, how this algorithm even works.

The state says: Sorry, trade secret.