Karan Tripathi
@karantripathi.bsky.social
PhD at University of Cambridge, MSc at University of Oxford. Researching impact of emerging technologies on criminalisation and punishment.
Pinned
Karan Tripathi
@karantripathi.bsky.social
· Nov 21
‘Entrapped in a penal time capsule’: Extralegal discourses in sentence review of life prisoners in India - Karan Tripathi, Netanel Dagan, 2024
Scholars argue that lifers’ parole can be mobilised to be punitive and politicised. However, how parole decision-makers construct and disguise their punitive an...
journals.sagepub.com
My paper in Punishment & Society discusses sentence review decision-making for life prisoners in India. Based on findings from quant-qual sequential design, I argue that SRB significantly violates lifers’ right to meaningful consideration for early release.
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
Just read an article in @theoreticalcrim.bsky.social that has completely misattributed and misinterpreted Deleuze, and re-signified concepts without sufficient reason. Don’t even get me started on argumentative flaws. Sad to see this on our discipline’s only theoretical journal
October 27, 2025 at 10:20 PM
Just read an article in @theoreticalcrim.bsky.social that has completely misattributed and misinterpreted Deleuze, and re-signified concepts without sufficient reason. Don’t even get me started on argumentative flaws. Sad to see this on our discipline’s only theoretical journal
UK is getting its Aadhar
September 26, 2025 at 5:23 PM
UK is getting its Aadhar
Reposted by Karan Tripathi
TL;DR: Verizon is being held accountable for unlawfully tracking and selling customer location data without proper disclosure or consent, raising serious privacy concerns.
Verizon Remains On The Legal Hook For Illegally Spying On You And Selling Your Movement Data (For Now)
For decades, major U.S. wireless providers have collected sensitive customer movement and location data (often down to the meter), then sold it to a long list of random dipshits — usually without b…
www.techdirt.com
September 26, 2025 at 5:16 PM
TL;DR: Verizon is being held accountable for unlawfully tracking and selling customer location data without proper disclosure or consent, raising serious privacy concerns.
The silence of certain immigration scholars on Far Right marches, rise of Reform and its policies, and everyday embodied harms of migrantphobia is alarming and concerning. Pick a side, speak up, before it’s too late. Don’t compel us to expose your duplicity and hypocrisy.
September 23, 2025 at 10:45 AM
The silence of certain immigration scholars on Far Right marches, rise of Reform and its policies, and everyday embodied harms of migrantphobia is alarming and concerning. Pick a side, speak up, before it’s too late. Don’t compel us to expose your duplicity and hypocrisy.
My fieldwork has now brought me to Hyderabad, where I am conducting research with India’s most technologically advanced police force. I look forward to developing a deeper, more contextually grounded understanding of the social life of algorithmic evidence in criminal investigations and prosecutions
July 16, 2025 at 5:36 PM
My fieldwork has now brought me to Hyderabad, where I am conducting research with India’s most technologically advanced police force. I look forward to developing a deeper, more contextually grounded understanding of the social life of algorithmic evidence in criminal investigations and prosecutions
As part of my PhD fieldwork, I have joined Bureau of Police Research & Development - India’s state-owned policing think tank. I’ll be working as a research assistant for Tech & Modernisation Division - looking at use of AI in criminal investigation and evidence construction
July 10, 2025 at 3:31 PM
As part of my PhD fieldwork, I have joined Bureau of Police Research & Development - India’s state-owned policing think tank. I’ll be working as a research assistant for Tech & Modernisation Division - looking at use of AI in criminal investigation and evidence construction
I love sharing reports from left-leaning media outlets in my right-wing heavy family WhatsApp groups just to redistribute the pains of cognitive overloading.
June 27, 2025 at 6:19 AM
I love sharing reports from left-leaning media outlets in my right-wing heavy family WhatsApp groups just to redistribute the pains of cognitive overloading.
Proposed changes to tax laws are simply providing a remote legal backing to an already prevalent police practice - confiscating devices and roving inspection of personal chats
May 20, 2025 at 5:33 AM
Proposed changes to tax laws are simply providing a remote legal backing to an already prevalent police practice - confiscating devices and roving inspection of personal chats
Reposted by Karan Tripathi
This week Inquest covered false promises: that the “new” drug war would be less punitive and more focused on public health (it is not), and that big tech policing product ShotSpotter makes communities safer (it does not). Read the full recap: mailchi.mp/inquest.o...
May 10, 2025 at 3:00 PM
This week Inquest covered false promises: that the “new” drug war would be less punitive and more focused on public health (it is not), and that big tech policing product ShotSpotter makes communities safer (it does not). Read the full recap: mailchi.mp/inquest.o...
It’s all in the ground truth (or the lack thereof)
The MTA is working with AI companies to deploy tech that would analyze security footage as it's being filmed. They want to use a technology notoriously unreliable and biased to monitor subways and send in police in real time #hightechracialprofiling
May 9, 2025 at 7:46 PM
It’s all in the ground truth (or the lack thereof)
Defence AI is built by, and for, war capitalists.
May 9, 2025 at 8:46 AM
Defence AI is built by, and for, war capitalists.
Reposted by Karan Tripathi
U.S. Companies Honed Their Surveillance Tech in Israel. Now It’s Coming Home.
theintercept.com/2025/04/30/i...
theintercept.com/2025/04/30/i...
U.S. Companies Honed Their Surveillance Tech in Israel. Now It’s Coming Home.
After deploying AI tools in Israel and on the U.S. border, American tech companies are now powering domestic repression.
theintercept.com
May 5, 2025 at 6:19 AM
U.S. Companies Honed Their Surveillance Tech in Israel. Now It’s Coming Home.
theintercept.com/2025/04/30/i...
theintercept.com/2025/04/30/i...
Authoritarian regimes have not just Co-opted “decolonisation” and “sovereignty”, but also “privacy” and “data protection”. State is claiming privacy against its own citizens.
April 24, 2025 at 7:26 AM
Authoritarian regimes have not just Co-opted “decolonisation” and “sovereignty”, but also “privacy” and “data protection”. State is claiming privacy against its own citizens.
Delhi Police arresting people based on facial recognition match score of 32%! At this point, such machine-driven ‘intelligence’ is simply a legitimation/rationalisation exercise.
April 21, 2025 at 11:31 AM
Delhi Police arresting people based on facial recognition match score of 32%! At this point, such machine-driven ‘intelligence’ is simply a legitimation/rationalisation exercise.
Thinking of Karen Barad’s relational ontology. ‘Identification’ here is no longer a search for pre-existing reality but a discursive tool to actively shape and produce reality. The reality here being “criminality”.
April 3, 2025 at 7:30 AM
Thinking of Karen Barad’s relational ontology. ‘Identification’ here is no longer a search for pre-existing reality but a discursive tool to actively shape and produce reality. The reality here being “criminality”.
An important thread on the new Sentencing Council guidelines on pre-sentencing reports
There’s been a lot of discussion recently on the new Sentencing Council guidelines – specifically about the proposal on ethnic and religious minorities. But what’s actually being proposed, is it sensible, and who are the Sentencing Council anyway? 🧵
March 31, 2025 at 5:22 PM
An important thread on the new Sentencing Council guidelines on pre-sentencing reports
Facial recognition is not about identification, it’s about labelling. The state doesn’t want to ‘see’ you, it already sees you and wants to ‘unsee you’ by legitimising its ways of (un)seeing as the only appropriate way of seeing.
Hungary bans Pride events and plans to use facial recognition to target attenders
Hungary bans Pride events and plans to use facial recognition to target attenders
Amnesty International describes legislation as ‘full-frontal attack’ on country’s LGBTQ+ community
MPs in Hungary have voted to ban Pride events and allow authorities to use facial recognition software to identify attenders and potentially fine them, in…
www.theguardian.com
March 22, 2025 at 10:59 AM
Facial recognition is not about identification, it’s about labelling. The state doesn’t want to ‘see’ you, it already sees you and wants to ‘unsee you’ by legitimising its ways of (un)seeing as the only appropriate way of seeing.
Reposted by Karan Tripathi
Tenure should empower academics to pursue radical research, to speak truth to power and to fight for transformative progress, but my tenured colleagues seem to just chase the money, obediently follow power and fight only for the progress of their CVs
March 18, 2025 at 2:59 PM
Tenure should empower academics to pursue radical research, to speak truth to power and to fight for transformative progress, but my tenured colleagues seem to just chase the money, obediently follow power and fight only for the progress of their CVs
Columbia is as example of why protestors/encampments were demanding review/divestment of funding sources. Universities have failed this litmus test, rather, shown their true colours. But guess what, so called tenured “critical scholars” will continue to benefit from this.
March 18, 2025 at 8:49 AM
Columbia is as example of why protestors/encampments were demanding review/divestment of funding sources. Universities have failed this litmus test, rather, shown their true colours. But guess what, so called tenured “critical scholars” will continue to benefit from this.
SOCMINT research needs to be revived.
March 17, 2025 at 8:54 PM
SOCMINT research needs to be revived.
While aggregated data on attacks on police is publicly available, the same for attacks by the police is nowhere to be found - and now being actively denied under “right to privacy” of the officers involved. Classic case of weaponising liberal reforms discourse
March 15, 2025 at 7:19 AM
While aggregated data on attacks on police is publicly available, the same for attacks by the police is nowhere to be found - and now being actively denied under “right to privacy” of the officers involved. Classic case of weaponising liberal reforms discourse
Theft in India is punishable with up to 2 years in jail, deemed a petty offence as per settled law. Arrest should only be made in exceptional circumstances. But FRT cameras has turned this upside down - amplifying the criminalisation and detention of those accused of petty, not serious offences
March 12, 2025 at 11:39 AM
Theft in India is punishable with up to 2 years in jail, deemed a petty offence as per settled law. Arrest should only be made in exceptional circumstances. But FRT cameras has turned this upside down - amplifying the criminalisation and detention of those accused of petty, not serious offences
Police tech providers in India are moving from “here’s our product” to “you can’t do it without us” - I’m guessing what would be the obvious next step!
February 19, 2025 at 4:43 AM
Police tech providers in India are moving from “here’s our product” to “you can’t do it without us” - I’m guessing what would be the obvious next step!
Indian state of UP spent 400 million INR to procure “AI crowd management tool” which was only used for counting footfall. Despite this, a tragic stampede took place where hundreds (still counting) lost their lives. Later, more money was spent in pushing positive ads for “digital kumbh”
February 16, 2025 at 5:36 AM
Indian state of UP spent 400 million INR to procure “AI crowd management tool” which was only used for counting footfall. Despite this, a tragic stampede took place where hundreds (still counting) lost their lives. Later, more money was spent in pushing positive ads for “digital kumbh”
Senior police officers in India call themselves “data fiduciaries”, but in the same breath go on to share their visions of a data warehouse that integrates static and real-time data from both state and private entities (delivery apps, e-commerce apps, home IOTs).
February 16, 2025 at 4:27 AM
Senior police officers in India call themselves “data fiduciaries”, but in the same breath go on to share their visions of a data warehouse that integrates static and real-time data from both state and private entities (delivery apps, e-commerce apps, home IOTs).