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Activity Number: 53 - Statistics and the Practice of Forensics
Type: Invited
Date/Time: Sunday, July 29, 2018 : 4:00 PM to 5:50 PM
Sponsor: Advisory Committee on Forensic Science
Abstract #326939
Title: Validating Science in an Open-Source Approach to Forensic Statistics: Algorithms, Data and Results
Author(s): Heike Hofmann*
Companies: Iowa State University
Keywords: Bullet matching; Forensic; Open Source
Abstract:

On October 2017, a federal judge in New York unsealed the source code for a DNA analysis software program due to its "overly ambitious and mistake-prone" techniques, according to ProPublica. Such software, known as Forensic Statistical Tool, was in use from 2011 to 2016 in about 1350 cases. This event has opened up the debate about open-source versus proprietary approaches to forensic science. In this talk, I will engage in this discussion and I will present current developments on statistical and algorithmical open-source approaches to matching bullets.


Authors who are presenting talks have a * after their name.

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