Arrest warrant issued for ex-Florida data scientist Rebekah Jones • Hacker News Board

Re: Arrest warrant issued for ex-Florida data scientist Rebekah Jones

#41

Post by jkhdigital » Sun, Jan 17, 2021, 3:58 PM UTC

tyingq wrote: post #23

CapitalistCartr wrote: post #19

While the State has handled this case wrong, she is not innocent in this. She made a bunch of drama about her interpretation of the data, which was, at best, no better than the State's method, and more likely, she was flat-out wrong. She is mostly a drama queen making a crazy mess.

"not innocent" Like criminally not innocent? Not clear on what you mean hear.

My interpretation is that she's not the whistleblower she claims to be, and in fact has unfairly cast a dark shadow over the work of everyone else involved in Florida's Covid-19 dashboard through her accusations.

Honestly, I think she was just attributing sinister motives to fairly inane bureaucratic decisions about data and reporting. But once she decided to go on CNN and lob accusations, this whole fiasco turned into a political Rorschach test that is completely unmoored from the underlying reality.

Re: Arrest warrant issued for ex-Florida data scientist Rebekah Jones

#42

Post by tyingq » Sun, Jan 17, 2021, 4:00 PM UTC

ransom1538 wrote: post #32

They have her ip address [1]. It is super easy to prosecute with her ip address marked on the sent message. I feel bad for her, but, why hand the prosecution so much (use a vpn)? This is like driving drunk with your headlights off. At this point, she will have to plead out. "An affidavit for the warrant claims that an unauthorized message sent from a state emergency management account on Nov. 10 was traced to an IP a…

Some more details on the system she is alleged to have accessed: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2020/12/florida-posted-t...

Re: Arrest warrant issued for ex-Florida data scientist Rebekah Jones

#43

Post by nix23 » Sun, Jan 17, 2021, 4:01 PM UTC

BrianOnHN wrote: post #7

This weekend I heard directly from a current DOT employee, formerly Dept Of Health, in the FL capitol: "We were just following the WHO recommendations." "She's just a web developer and doesn't understand anything about the numbers."

>>with dual degrees in earth science and journalism in 2012

>>received a dual master's degree in geography and mass communication

>>where she completed course work with an emphasis on data science and was working on a doctoral dissertation titled Using Native American Sitescapes to Extend the North American Paleotempestological Record Through Coupled Remote Sensing and Climatological Analysis

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebekah_Jones

...Just a Webdeveloper

Re: Arrest warrant issued for ex-Florida data scientist Rebekah Jones

#44

Post by treis » Sun, Jan 17, 2021, 4:01 PM UTC

onionisafruit wrote: post #34

orangecat wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All she did was be good at her job and tell the truth. What "truth" do you think she was exposing? The original dispute that caused her to leave her job was a boring technical dispute about whether to automatically publish data from PDFs or to have it reviewed for accuracy first: https://polimath.substack.com/p/a-long-one-about-the-florida... . Despite insinuations from various irresponsible media figures, there is z…

Is this case all they have when they accuse Florida of falsifying covid data? I assumed there was more but never looked into it.

There was also some controversy of counting those that died in Florida but were not residents of Florida. A marginal difference, but not anything that big.

Re: Arrest warrant issued for ex-Florida data scientist Rebekah Jones

#45

Post by jkhdigital » Sun, Jan 17, 2021, 4:02 PM UTC

xibalba wrote: post #36

jkhdigital wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed--as a Florida resident, I have heard a variety of highly-charged opinions on this story from many of my fellow residents, but very few hard facts to confirm or deny any particular narrative. I think the raid on Ms. Jones home was a grotesque and unwarranted use of police force, but I also think her "whistle-blowing" story is highly questionable based on the facts available.

If you have few hard facts, how are you evaluating the justification for raiding her home?

The raid on her home is one event which is pretty well documented, and I have little tolerance for militarized police tactics in general.

Re: Arrest warrant issued for ex-Florida data scientist Rebekah Jones

#46

Post by firstSpeaker » Sun, Jan 17, 2021, 4:03 PM UTC

Anyone has the facts, that are out about this, subject noted to share? Too much speculations and armchair opinions re floating around.

Re: Arrest warrant issued for ex-Florida data scientist Rebekah Jones

#47

Post by jjcon » Sun, Jan 17, 2021, 4:06 PM UTC

nix23 wrote: post #43

BrianOnHN wrote: post #7

This weekend I heard directly from a current DOT employee, formerly Dept Of Health, in the FL capitol: "We were just following the WHO recommendations." "She's just a web developer and doesn't understand anything about the numbers."

>>with dual degrees in earth science and journalism in 2012 >>received a dual master's degree in geography and mass communication >>where she completed course work with an emphasis on data science and was working on a doctoral dissertation titled Using Native American Sitescapes to Extend the North American Paleotempestological Record Through Coupled Remote Sensing and Climatological Analysis https://en.wikipedia.org…

What does that have to do with anything? Her job was a web developer, not a data scientist. None of those qualify her to understand statistics better than the plethora of those employed by the state that are working diligently.

Plenty of employees have been let go for spreading falsities around COVID, most having been on the other side (COVID isn’t real etc). These behaviors are absolutely unacceptable and are dangerous.

Re: Arrest warrant issued for ex-Florida data scientist Rebekah Jones

#48

Post by [deleted] » Sun, Jan 17, 2021, 4:07 PM UTC

ineedasername wrote: post #40

orangecat wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Please define "partisan bungling" given that Florida has a lower death rate(1) and faster vaccine rollout(2) than the US average, while keeping schools open in accordance with expert recommendations. (1): https://91-divoc.com/pages/covid-visualization/?chart=states... (2): https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/covid-vaccine-tracker-glo...

That's the whole point of this thing: You're pointing to Florida's numbers and assuming "no bungling". This person arrested is alleging that Florida has been fudging the numbers to make their situation look much better than it is.

[deleted]

Re: Arrest warrant issued for ex-Florida data scientist Rebekah Jones

#49

Post by seebetter » Sun, Jan 17, 2021, 4:07 PM UTC

BrianOnHN wrote: post #7

This weekend I heard directly from a current DOT employee, formerly Dept Of Health, in the FL capitol: "We were just following the WHO recommendations." "She's just a web developer and doesn't understand anything about the numbers."

I have a friend who works in intelligence who said Fauci was corrupt and callous in April. In regards to all the profiteering in testing.

Love how our society has become so welcoming of “CIA officers” on CNN and the media just merged with the political corrupt aspect of the IC. Neoliberal rackets.

Re: Arrest warrant issued for ex-Florida data scientist Rebekah Jones

#50

Post by pX3q54Q55945w7E » Sun, Jan 17, 2021, 4:08 PM UTC

onionisafruit wrote: post #34

orangecat wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All she did was be good at her job and tell the truth. What "truth" do you think she was exposing? The original dispute that caused her to leave her job was a boring technical dispute about whether to automatically publish data from PDFs or to have it reviewed for accuracy first: https://polimath.substack.com/p/a-long-one-about-the-florida... . Despite insinuations from various irresponsible media figures, there is z…

Is this case all they have when they accuse Florida of falsifying covid data? I assumed there was more but never looked into it.

Her “data” that she publishes on her website was always within 5% of what my Florida county publishes, and within the same margin of what I see on NYT or any other website. I say it’s close enough, so she didn’t expose diddly squat. What she did do is access a state computer system without authorization. That’s a crime, and her guilt or innocence will play out in court... like with other crimes.

There’s no story here, except about a hysterical, attention-seeking woman who poked the wrong bear. Good luck to her. If nothing else, I hope she learns a lesson.