In 2012, the International Football Association Board--the 131 year old rulemaking organization for soccer around the world--said it would allow use of goal-line technology. The decision came after nearly a decade of arguments, bad calls, and angry fans, and is still a point of discussion today. That type of extended and bitter debate repeats any time the governing body of any sport considers adding technology to the mix. Those constant conversations caught the attention of Meg Jones and Karen Levy, who study law and technology at Georgetown and Cornell, respectively. Jones says it's quite tricky to figure out how people feel about the law enforcement technologies she studies, like automatic cameras at traffic lights, police body cameras, and courtroom computer programs.

Every year and in every sport, digital technology's role in officiating live gameplay expands. Innovations like MLB's Statcast and the NBA's SportVU systems have leveraged data to collect a wealth of information about all aspects of games, offering detailed feedback to help coaches and players improve performance and grant fans greater access. But applying the same technology to help referees make better calls has been much more controversial, in part because the stakes are so high. The decision on a tough call can be the difference between a win or a loss. Officiating is, of course, subjective, and therefore susceptible to human error.