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The Era of Automatic Facial Recognition and Surveillance Is Here

forbes.com

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Re: The Era of Automatic Facial Recognition and Surveillance Is Here

#11

Post by philbarr »

Walk into a store, and the salesclerks will know your name.

- they already do once you scan your store card

The store’s cameras and computers will have figured out your identity,

- store card

and looked you up in both their store database and a commercial marketing database they’ve subscribed to.

- store card again.

They’ll know your name,

- store card

salary,

- if you entered it and if you didn't lie when you filled out your store card form

interests,

- if you entered them and your didn't lie when you filled out your store card form

what sort of sales pitches you’re most vulnerable to,

- if the "deep data" / AI is actually correct

and how profitable a customer you are.

- store card

Maybe they’ll have read a profile based on your tweets and know what sort of mood you’re in.

- MAYBE. assuming the AI is anywhere near correct.

Maybe they’ll know your political affiliation or sexual identity,

- MAYBE, probably wrong.

both predictable by your social media activity.

- PROVE THIS.

And they’re going to engage with you accordingly, perhaps by making sure you’re well taken care of or possibly by trying to make you so uncomfortable that you’ll leave.

Re: The Era of Automatic Facial Recognition and Surveillance Is Here

#13

Post by hackuser »

electricblue wrote: post #9

This article is a bit alarmist. I agree that government entities using this technology as a tool of oppression is definitely bad & going to happen somewhere but I'm not worried about the shop clerk knowing my political affiliation because there is zero profit motive there. You're talking about a truly massive database of customer info joined with facial info obtained...how? Is the DMV gonna start giving away my licen…

> Is the DMV gonna start giving away my license to Home Depot?

IIRC this already happens and businesses can buy DMV databases.

> Is facebook going to torpedo their business by selling this info?

Many businesses collect and sell this information. Where do all these online businesses, who charge users nothing, get their revenue? [EDIT: More simply said, that info arguably is the basis of the Internet economy]

> why would they want it?

To discriminate. They may offer different products or prices. They may discriminate because you are gay or transgender, because of your ethnic background, or because of your religious (e.g., Muslims) or political affiliation (e.g., communist, right-wing extremist, etc.). This can happen in more serious situations too, such as when dealing with government, law enforcement, or in employment situations.

Certainly such discrimination has been widespread for centuries and is today. Why would it be any different when they have new tools?

Re: The Era of Automatic Facial Recognition and Surveillance Is Here

#14

Post by JupiterMoon »

hackuser wrote: post #6

A HN contest: Provide an elevator pitch, to completely non-technical end-users, that will make them aware of this issue and persuade them that it is important to them. Vote up the best ones. [EDIT: The goal is to persuade them about its dangers, not sell them something based on it] That elevator pitch is key. I have extensive knowledge about this issue but have a hard time coming up with it; I need to be prepared. Ch…

www.cantheyseemydick.com

Re: The Era of Automatic Facial Recognition and Surveillance Is Here

#15

Post by electricblue »

hackuser wrote: post #13
electricblue wrote: post #9

This article is a bit alarmist. I agree that government entities using this technology as a tool of oppression is definitely bad & going to happen somewhere but I'm not worried about the shop clerk knowing my political affiliation because there is zero profit motive there. You're talking about a truly massive database of customer info joined with facial info obtained...how? Is the DMV gonna start giving away my licen…

> Is the DMV gonna start giving away my license to Home Depot? IIRC this already happens and businesses can buy DMV databases. > Is facebook going to torpedo their business by selling this info? Many businesses collect and sell this information. Where do all these online businesses, who charge users nothing, get their revenue? [EDIT: More simply said, that info arguably is the basis of the Internet economy] > why wou…

Seems like a massive amount of effort just to be a dick. They get all the info they could ever want from customer loyalty cards, this is a redundant and frankly useless waste of money.

Re: The Era of Automatic Facial Recognition and Surveillance Is Here

#16

Post by JupiterMoon »

iamcurious wrote: post #4

I no longer know what to do about this problem. I'm convinced surveillance is here to stay and that making it illegal will only serve to hide the microphones. I'm still extremely grateful for those who fight for privacy, is just that I don't see how we can win. Not knowing how to treat the cause, I'm at least trying to treat the symptoms. We might not be able to stop them from seeing our secrets, but we might very we…

I think that it has to get worse before it gets better. In the UK there is so much apathy and general fear of the nebulous 'terrorists' that surveillance is broadly supported. I hope that our children's generation will be able to free themselves from the terrible world we are building them.

Re: The Era of Automatic Facial Recognition and Surveillance Is Here

#17

Post by fsargent »

JupiterMoon wrote: post #14
hackuser wrote: post #6

A HN contest: Provide an elevator pitch, to completely non-technical end-users, that will make them aware of this issue and persuade them that it is important to them. Vote up the best ones. [EDIT: The goal is to persuade them about its dangers, not sell them something based on it] That elevator pitch is key. I have extensive knowledge about this issue but have a hard time coming up with it; I need to be prepared. Ch…

www.cantheyseemydick.com

More like "Do they know that it's MY dick?"

Re: The Era of Automatic Facial Recognition and Surveillance Is Here

#18

Post by tjr »

philbarr wrote: post #11

Walk into a store, and the salesclerks will know your name. - they already do once you scan your store card The store’s cameras and computers will have figured out your identity, - store card and looked you up in both their store database and a commercial marketing database they’ve subscribed to. - store card again. They’ll know your name, - store card salary, - if you entered it and if you didn't lie when you filled…

RMS has been advocating against using store cards for years. I guess in-store facial recognition could thwart the privacy efforts of people like him? (To some degree?)

Re: The Era of Automatic Facial Recognition and Surveillance Is Here

#19

Post by JupiterMoon »

electricblue wrote: post #9

This article is a bit alarmist. I agree that government entities using this technology as a tool of oppression is definitely bad & going to happen somewhere but I'm not worried about the shop clerk knowing my political affiliation because there is zero profit motive there. You're talking about a truly massive database of customer info joined with facial info obtained...how? Is the DMV gonna start giving away my licen…

Your comment is ill informed. As an example search radioshack and look what happened to the user data during the bankruptcy proceedings. Now ask yourself what happens if Facebook ends up in the position Myspace is in? For another example do some research into wifi tracking in shops.
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