How in space Picard (And/or Starfleet) still lets Data do anything on the Enterprise after S4E03 Brothers and (Maybe worse this time) S6E26 Descent?

[Humanoid #77]

This probably has been discussed before

data is very able and superhuman, but he is proven to be absolutely unreliable

if he was a box on Wheels we wouldn't even have a discussion about deactivating him and putting him as far away as possible from the Enterprise’s computer

But Pinocchio I guess

Edit> also generations, first Contact, There may be other examples. I am surprised nobody died because of him

 

[Finn]

They are evolved and enlightened, unlike us post-industrial barbarians....and plot

 

[Tosk]

Should they also get rid of any non-android officer who has been mind-controlled in some fashion?
Because there might not be too many main characters left.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Should they also get rid of any non-android officer who has been mind-controlled in some fashion?
Because there might not be too many main characters left.

The assumption is that Geordi got new eyes because a more impressive technology was invented that superseded the VISOR, but what if it's bullshit shitty old tech that strips Geordi of a range of features and abilities, but it's harder to hack?

 

[JamesRye]

Even if Data has vulnerabilities and on occasion has posed an issue to the smooth running of the ship, he has also saved the ship with his incredible abilities on numerous occasions. The list below I found by Googling and then lost the source

Genesis = Immune to the mutation

Cause & Effect = Received a coded dekyon emission & determined it's message

The Game = Immune to the addiction

Disaster = Able to prevent containment breech with direct link to the computer

Night Terrors = Immune to the R.E.M. deprivation

Best of Both Worlds = Direct link to the Borg Collective, via Locutus

 

[Ragitsu]

Fire anyone who is vulnerable to possession/mind control? There goes all sapient life in Starfleet...except Q.

 

[Orphalesion]

As already pointed out, characters in Star Trek are frequently forgiven for being influenced or controlled by outside forces. Why should Data be different?

 

[FederationHistorian]

The same way that Sisko/Starfleet still trusted Odo to run around Deep Space Nine after Odo first linked with the Female Changeling and allowed thousands to die at the beginning of the Dominion War.

Federation enlightenment. Or, to paraphrase Kirk, leaving bigotry in their quarters.

It doesn't always work, though ex. Lt. Commander Hobson on the USS Sutherland. and if Hobson can been the captain of the Enterprise, he probably would have removed Data. He may have even handed Data over to Bruce Maddox.

The synth ban after the Attack on Mars in PIC, along with Seven of Nine's exclusion from Starfleet upon Voyager's return to Earth, seemed to be the one time that Starfleet as a whole decided to not leave bigotry in their quarters. Though that was Zhat Vash manipulation. Which shows that Starfleet generally does not have a widespread fear of synthetic life, and are only reactionary when dealing with black swan type of event.

 

[USS Firefly]

The same way that Sisko/Starfleet still trusted Odo to run around Deep Space Nine after Odo first linked with the Female Changeling and allowed thousands to die at the beginning of the Dominion War.

When did they say Odo's action cost so many lives?

 

[Qonundrum]

This probably has been discussed before

data is very able and superhuman, but he is proven to be absolutely unreliable

if he was a box on Wheels we wouldn't even have a discussion about deactivating him and putting him as far away as possible from the Enterprise’s computer

But Pinocchio I guess

Edit> also generations, first Contact, There may be other examples. I am surprised nobody died because of him

I lack the time right now, and time is already is too busy melting snowmen (if you believe that maxim, look it up -- but a list of each character, when they got compromised, and in which episode they got compromised in, might be a thrill.

Troi got compromised in "Power Play", as had O'Brien and Data.
Troi was also taken over in "Clues".

Most of them got compromised in "The Naked Now" and "Lonely Among Us" at some point. Ditto for "Conundrum" where the Edo ship came back in hopes that nobody remembered season one, despite every other reference to it but before I digress...

How many times per season did any biological blob get compromised compared to Data? From memory,

"Evolution" had Data taken over.
Ditto for "Naked Now" but don't ask how.
"Power Play", of course, as I recall him lifting Worf up because Lore wasn't available to do it again. Or was that Picard? Both? Oh well.
"The Schizoid Man" had Data taken over by the scientist guy who, if I recall, worked with Dr Soong at some point, and you knew they made the scientist guy overtly nasty so that even casual viewers could spot the difference if they took an extended break to clean the cat's litterbox or whatever else...
Dr Soong took him over in "Brothers".
As had Lore in "Descent", how come everyone up Data's family tree didn't whip out the proverbial remote control??

And yet: "Clues" had him covertly lying, just like how any human had - so there's a sub-table right there, the times when either biological thing and built thing could be compromised by the same thing... or when only the biological can... or when only the positronic-built one could.


But the Pinocchio aspect was effectively ditched after season 2, somewhat unfortunately as I'm growing to like that aspect of Data far more than "I am an an-droid" every 2 seconds in season 3 onward.


Being in the future and all of the galactic unknowns, maybe that's why they all get a pass. It's par for the course when exploring the deeper annals of the cosmos or whatever florid vernacular one prefers.

 

[Ragitsu]

I wonder if this is part of a Starfleet training manual: "Prepare for the very real possibility that you will lose your volition."

 

[Mojochi]

Taking this in context helps explain this away IMHO. The events of Brothers surely would have broad reaching ramifications on poor Data. I imagine a fair number of new security measures being undertaken to prevent just about everything he managed to pull off that day from ever being able to happen again, & arguably they must have worked, because as we see, when Data is later hijacked by Lore, in Descent, surely Lore would've used Data to much more devastating effect on the ship & crew if he could have, being his intent was wholly malicious, unlike Dr. Soong's.

Instead, all Data managed to do was release a prisoner & hijack a shuttle, unlike all the access he'd formerly been capable of commandeering in Brothers. So a lot of that might not be possible anymore, & in a way, having it happen as it did, with no real harm, has actually made the ship more secure in general.

As others have said, all the crew have been shown to be just as prone to loss of autonomy as Data has. So, it's not that aspect which should give Starfleet greater concerns. It's Data's heightened capabilities falling into the wrong hands that would, & does. Data, more than any of them, has had to fight for his liberty because of it.

But on the other hand, consider the context. Brothers takes place right after Data is almost singlehandedly responsible for stopping the entire UFP from falling to the Borg. There's equally as much to be said for how well the ship, crew & fleet have benefited from his nature as it has been vulnerable to it.

I'd say it's a fair risk/reward, leaning heavily toward the beneficial side, & it seems they agree, but I suspect some caveats. You'll notice that even after saving everyone numerous times, by being unique, he's never been promoted to Commander or Captain, or any role where he'd be in sole command of a Starfleet post. I think they actually don't have the same level of trust in him as they do others.

They drop Picard back in command time & time again after having been compromised far worse IMHO. Make no bones about it. Some of Data's history HAS held him back, despite him being a far greater asset than liability.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Um, it's a TV show?

 

[carcinoGeneticist]

After "Brothers" and "Descent"? Because the events in those episodes were caused by mind control. I will say, he does break in some way or another ALL. THE. TIME. And mind control isn't always the culprit. I ask your same question but for different reasons,

 

[Nerys Myk]

Starfleet is very forgiving. The history of Star Trek shows this.