Flaws in Cellphone Evidence Prompt Review of 10,000 Verdicts in Denmark

mood · Aug 22, 2019

Flaws in Cellphone Evidence Prompt Review of 10,000 Verdicts in Denmark
August 20, 2019
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/20/world/europe/denmark-cellphone-data-courts.html

The authorities in Denmark say they plan to review over 10,000 court verdicts because of errors in cellphone tracking data offered as evidence.
The country’s director of public prosecutions on Monday also ordered a two-month halt in prosecutors’ use of cellphone data in criminal cases while the flaws and their potential consequences are investigated.

The first error was found in an I.T. system that converts phone companies’ raw data into evidence that the police and prosecutors can use to place a person at the scene of a crime.
In a second problem, some cellphone tracking data linked phones to the wrong cellphone towers, potentially connecting innocent people to crime scenes, said Jan Reckendorff, the director of public prosecutions.

“It’s a very, very serious case,” Mr. Reckendorff told Denmark’s state broadcaster. “We cannot live with incorrect information sending people to prison.”
No statistics are available on how many verdicts are reached based on cellphone tower data in the country, but the data is often used in combination with other evidence and could help tip a court’s decision in either direction, experts say.
Click to expand...

mirimir · Aug 22, 2019

The authorities in Denmark say they plan to review over 10,000 court verdicts because of errors in cellphone tracking data offered as evidence.
Click to expand...

Woah. That's a lot of cases involving cellphone tracking. In a country with only ~six million people.

Log in or Sign up

Flaws in Cellphone Evidence Prompt Review of 10,000 Verdicts in Denmark

mood Updates Team

mirimir Registered Member