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A crashed advertisement reveals logs of a facial recognition system

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Re: A crashed advertisement reveals logs of a facial recognition system

#81
post #19

In Japan at least, before automated facial recognition, cashiers recorded buyer demographics by hand. I would think other places do it too. Edit: Here is what the buttons look like. Gender and age. https://image.slidesharecdn.com/hvc-c-android-prototype20141...

In a few stores here in Australia, I am asked for my post code (or country of residence if no post code) by the cashier when ringing up a sale. Predominantly at tourist/tour related points of sale, but I've also had it an electronics and white goods stores. No idea if the operator is also recording gender and perceived age group etc., but I do know that on most occasions, you can opt not to answer the post code quest…

Isn't it a credit card security feature? That's what it's for at gas stations.

Re: A crashed advertisement reveals logs of a facial recognition system

#82
post #19

In Japan at least, before automated facial recognition, cashiers recorded buyer demographics by hand. I would think other places do it too. Edit: Here is what the buttons look like. Gender and age. https://image.slidesharecdn.com/hvc-c-android-prototype20141...

Don't forget loyalty cards are both a way to track demo and purchasing trends.

Re: A crashed advertisement reveals logs of a facial recognition system

#83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Now your employer can monitor your facial expressions to determine if you are actually working or just reading HN.

The future is here: "WorkSmart can track workers' keystroke activity and take webcam images to ensure they're doing their jobs." http://www.oregonlive.com/silicon-forest/index.ssf/2017/05/j...

We used to do this in a school - it wasn't creepy - hear me out:

We had labs of iMacs and if anything happened to a machine, kids would (more often than not) just yank the power cord. Occasionally this would foobar the machine entirely and create unnecessary work. We couldn't catch the culprits.

So, if the machine managed to boot up successfully, after an unexpected power loss, we would take a photo using the built in camera and send it along with a ticket to the job queue, as well as do a complete re-image of the machine (automatically).

The number of funny photos we collected of kids just starting at the computer with WTF looks on their faces. But - from these photos we at least had the opportunity to educate the individuals about how to look after the computers a bit better.

Re: A crashed advertisement reveals logs of a facial recognition system

#84
post #11
post #2

Well, that's disturbing. I bet we'll see much more of this in the coming days.

For sure. And when you consider that research is improving on the topic of guessing someones race, age, gender, emotion via facial video/stills, as well as identifying other quasi-unique features such as gestures, gait, and facial expressions, well... it seems like it'd be hard to evade advanced ad or government tracking.

It really annoys me that these are deployed in public spaces where you essentially can't opt-out or fight the tracking like you can online (ad blockers, script execution control etc).

Re: A crashed advertisement reveals logs of a facial recognition system

#85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Now your employer can monitor your facial expressions to determine if you are actually working or just reading HN.

The future is here: "WorkSmart can track workers' keystroke activity and take webcam images to ensure they're doing their jobs." http://www.oregonlive.com/silicon-forest/index.ssf/2017/05/j...

The future was here in 1995....

I worked for the U.S. Postal service for a time doing data entry (here as a matter of fact... http://www.sltrib.com/news/3445651-155/the-first-and-last-of...).

That job measured the number of keystrokes per hour of each employee. You had to maintain a 10,000 keystrokes per hour minimum data entry rate, they also spot checked for accuracy. Capturing the data you were suppose to enter (a scan of a piece of mail) what you entered, and what should have been entered.

While there was no question about goofing off... they used commodity hardware, but nothing else was general purpose (no internet, no email, no solitaire, no obviously general purpose OS), and no phones, talking., etc... they were very much watching for speed and accuracy during the entire time you were clocked in.

Re: A crashed advertisement reveals logs of a facial recognition system

#86
post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My father had memorized a fake Social Security Number that had come as a sample card in a wallet he got in the 1950s. When anybody except the government asked for his SSN and who wouldn't relent on his pushback, he would give them that number.

It wasn't 078-05-1120? https://www.ssa.gov/history/ssn/misused.html

Wow, nice! I don't know if he was one of the 12 in 1977, but he would have been if this is the number he used. Woolworth's totally makes sense. If he were alive, he would poop purple Twinkies at that story. Thanks!

Re: A crashed advertisement reveals logs of a facial recognition system

#87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As far back as 2000, my partner was asked for her zip code as we made a purchase and I curtly replied "no comment," to the surprise of everyone there. She walked for her phone number, which really irritated me because this was a $5 retail purchase of some type), and I got more curt when I said, "You don't need that!" I've been annoyed by this stuff long before most people were ready to consider privacy concerns anyth…

I like to give fake numbers in these situations. The way I see it, intentionally supplying bogus data is one of the only ways we have left to fight the machines and their algorithms!

I like to give obviously fake numbers. Like 12345 for a zip code or 212-555-1234 for a phone number. Most people don't care enough to have a reaction, now and then you get a laugh, and rarely you'll get someone who calls it out as bogus. My standard retort is somewhere between "Are you saying I don't know my own phone number?" and "Are you calling a liar?!" depending on how surly the response.

Re: A crashed advertisement reveals logs of a facial recognition system

#88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The future is here: "WorkSmart can track workers' keystroke activity and take webcam images to ensure they're doing their jobs." http://www.oregonlive.com/silicon-forest/index.ssf/2017/05/j...

We used to do this in a school - it wasn't creepy - hear me out: We had labs of iMacs and if anything happened to a machine, kids would (more often than not) just yank the power cord. Occasionally this would foobar the machine entirely and create unnecessary work. We couldn't catch the culprits. So, if the machine managed to boot up successfully, after an unexpected power loss, we would take a photo using the built i…

Couldn't you just identify the user by their logon?

Re: A crashed advertisement reveals logs of a facial recognition system

#89
post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For those that haven't seen it, here's the scene where all the digital signage knows who John Anderton is: https://youtu.be/7bXJ_obaiYQ The movie was released in 2002, so fairly prescient.

It wasn't that prescient; public-location commercial facial recognition system had been deployed for several years, and companies were, IIRC, already actively promoting customer tracking and advertising applications at the time.

It's worth noting the 2002 movie Minority Report is based on a shorty story of the same name published by Philip K. Dick in 1956.

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Minority_Report

Re: A crashed advertisement reveals logs of a facial recognition system

#90
post #15

You'd be surprised / scared / outraged if you knew how common this is. Any time you've been in a public place for the past few years, you've likely been watched, analysed and optimised for. Advertising in the physical world is just as scummy as it's online equivalent. Check out the video here http://sightcorp.com/ for an ultra creepy overview. You can even try their live demo: https://face-api.sightcorp.com/demo_basi…

I tried the demo. A little sad, that it sees me as 12 years older than I am, and that I apparently always look angry and disgusted! I'm going to blame it on my glasses and bushy beard, and try to look at the bright side - apparently face scanning systems aren't quite good enough to get a read on me yet. (And try not to be too sad about looking like a grumpy old man) (Anyone else with a glasses, a beard, or other non-…

I did well... it said I was an angry 33 y/o male. Well, I am male... I'm almost 50... and I didn't think smiling at the camera conveyed anger... but who am I to question our AI overlords ;-)

(edit)... on the other hand they probably were just trying to sell product so thought flattery was the right approach...

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