| The “profiled human” does not freely make these choices. The “profiled human” is only a reflection of the predictable. The profiled human will be suggested to behave in the same way as he did in the past and in the same way as people with similar profiles have behaved previously.
If you are a white male studying law at Columbia, it means you are also likely to vote Democrats, travel to Europe, be interested in wine, play tennis, and listen to rock music. If you were born in Harlem and you are a black unemployed male, you will also be likely to vote Democrats, but you will rather be likely not to travel, be interested in drinking beers or sodas rather than wine, play soccer or video games rather than tennis, listen to hip-hop instead of rock music. And this is what will be suggested to them as well as to their alike friends. The data locks people into their profiles. It makes people become what you were likely to become and, in this sense, prevents individuals to freely realize themselves and reproduces existing social patterns. The possible was reduced to the probable. |