This scenario could soon become commonplace in Seattle, where last week the city council approved Safe Harbors. This plan deploys a computer network to track the city's homeless, building case histories across shelters and programs by assigning each homeless person a unique number. By knowing its homeless better, Seattle will be able to better help them, says the council member who sponsored the proposal. But some of the city's homeless and homeless advocates are afraid the data could be used to do more harm than good. We have no assurances on how the information will be used.
People are frightened.
Maybe I have a warrant out. Their fears, while understandable, are unfounded, insists Andy Grow, the council legislative assistant who helped draft the plan. Privacy and confidentiality will be protected at every point. Otherwise, people won't participate. No one will be denied service based on his past, he added.