theatlantic | A service called "Ghetto Tracker" appeared online at the beginning of
this week and quickly drew criticism for its racist and classist
overtones. Shortly after, the site was renamed "Good Part of Town." Its
creator, who would only identify himself as a 30-something-year-old in
Tallahassee, told Gawker:
"This was originally seriously developed as a travel tool and the name
'Ghetto Tracker' was meant to be something that people would remember."
The basic premise of Ghetto Tracker/Good Part of Town -- to
crowdsource travel advice – actually isn’t so outrageous, but the
framing, even without the word "Ghetto" in the name, and the intention
-- to label whole geographic areas as "good" or "bad," "safe" and
"unsafe" -- make the operation distasteful.
Yet in the growing field of geo-web applications, incorporating safety judgments into navigational aids is becoming increasingly common. Accusations of reinforcing racist or classist stereotypes could be lobbed at any of those apps. "In any form," writes Emily Badger at The Atlantic Cities,
"this idea toes a touchy line between a utilitarian application of open
data and a sly wink toward people who just want to steer clear of
'those kinds of neighborhoods.'"
So how should we think about these apps? When does technology step
over that line from being merely useful to becoming insidiously
stereotype-enforcing?
Anyone can investigate a neighborhood by looking up local crime
rates, median income, and demographics online – not to mention the
information gleaned from word-of-mouth reports. To perform such research
and then make a decision about traveling to a particular area involves
critical thinking, which is hardly objectionable. The ethical problem
occurs when your mobile device takes over that thinking for you. Fist tap Dale.
