agentxstealth OP t1_iu8yq4o wrote on October 29, 2022 at 2:13 PM

Reply to comment by SockaSockaSock in Ever felt unsafe walking along the streets of Baltimore late at night? by agentxstealth

I never understood the whole "racist argument" actually. If your safety is in peril, why would you consider socio-ethical ramifications of your choices? I've seen some mentally unstable people brandishing objects that could be used as weapons on the street. Would I take into consideration that they are possibly unfortunate victims of an unjust society (which I agree with) and walk by within the distance of their reach? For someone of a small stature like myself, I'd probably put the concern of safety over anything like that, to be honest.

SockaSockaSock t1_iu921ss wrote on October 29, 2022 at 2:38 PM

What do you make of the argument that the app won’t have a realistic measure of safety for Black users who may be more likely to be subjected to police harassment in some statistically low-crime neighborhoods (because harassment and assault by police aren’t recorded as crimes)?

agentxstealth OP t1_iu93avg wrote on October 29, 2022 at 2:48 PM

This is a fair point, black users could be more subject to police brutality, but like you said, that doesn't fall into the category of crimes. The safety the app calculates is solely related to crimes, and I state in my disclaimer that every user is still responsible for his or her safety/life at the end of the day. The user also has the option to choose between a plethora of route options that optimize his preferences for both safety and speed, they are not being forced to take just one route.

Ok_Concentrate_75 t1_iu911j4 wrote on October 29, 2022 at 2:31 PM

Imo historically avoidance is often a popular step for at large and wealthy aspects of society, that app would kinda make it easier to avoid the conversations behind certain things because it would kinda cut out a whole section of a city that maybe needs more interaction. Gentrification in small cities like Baltimore already showcase the glaring double side of the populations, giving richer or well off people the chance to not even see things that they might have a hand in creating or changing won't help. It's 2 sided, the individual will want safety but the society should make it sage, companies like Microsoft can literally do both so to take a side seems like it could have deeper consequences.

moonythejedi394 t1_iu9issp wrote on October 29, 2022 at 4:40 PM

you made good points. plus, there are other ways to keep yourself safe at night here without any apps.