Microsoft is in hot water over an app that is meant to give people options for different routes to take if they're not traveling by a 'conventional vehicle'. If you're walking and you want the scenic route, for example, or if you're going by wheelchair and you want to stick to sidewalk-only streets the Pedestrian Route Production app can tell you the way to go. It became controversial when people heard about the choice for a 'crime-avoiding' route. Because, how does the app know? One Cleveland city councilman spelled it out: "How is someone in Silicon Valley going to tell you to how to avoid someplace on Kinsman? Or in New York City? Or in Washington D.C.? The data will be old, outdated..." Given how fast a neighborhood changes in this city—or even throughout different times of day—he has a fair point. [AGBeat]
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