Live data from Hacker News

Singapore to test facial recognition on lampposts, stoking privacy fears

reuters.com

21–30 of 102 posts

Re: Singapore to test facial recognition on lampposts, stoking privacy fears

#21
post #10

"Yes we can so this", technically, facial recognition is now there. "Why are we doing this?" Singapore is an already incredibly safe place with pride in the effectiveness of the rule of law. The screenshot, as captioned: > SenseTime surveillance software identifying details about people and vehicles runs as a demonstration at the company's office in Beijing, China, October 11, 2017. REUTERS/Thomas Peter/File Photo Im…

> Should a European citizen visit Singapore, would this be GDPR compliant?

Has the GDPR self-pleasuring circle gone too far now?

After sites blocking themselves (lol) now we have that questioning. People are just out of their minds.

Re: Singapore to test facial recognition on lampposts, stoking privacy fears

#22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Should a European citizen visit Singapore, would this be GDPR compliant? I’m sure Singapore doesn’t care. The truth about Singapore is that it pretty much is a police state, which has pretty extensive restrictions on individual freedoms. But... they do actually deliver on the supposed benefits of organising a society in that manner. Singapore is safe, clean and orderly. I wouldn’t say that’s the best way to run a co…

And yet crime still does occur, and lifestyle choices are severely punished by jail, death, loss of career and loss of residency. And by lifestyle choices I mean being gay, smoking weed, or being Malay. I would quite literally live in any Chinese city before chosing Singapore. At least China would be cheaper.

> I would quite literally live in any Chinese city before chosing Singapore. At least China would be cheaper.

No you won't. However bad you imagine Singapore's police state to be, China's is several order of magnitudes worse. Singapore doesn't block most Western social network, media and file sharing sites. Singapore doesn't ban memes from social networks because they make their leader look bad. Singapore doesn't demand foreign internet companies to host content locally so that the government can crackdown on said content if it doesn't agree with them. Singapore doesn't kidnap dissidents from neighbouring countries, or put entire minority races into concentration camps.

And major Chinese cities aren't cheaper either. Surprise - if you want Western standard of living, then you have to pay Western prices.

Re: Singapore to test facial recognition on lampposts, stoking privacy fears

#24
post #18

Someone that does not want to be tracked by facial or gait recognition, either because he's a criminal or a political activist, will always be able to do that. There might be a race between the recognition software and the circumvention technology, but a dedicated individual will always be able to avoid that. Normal people without any criminal, terrorist or activist intentions will be victims of this massive surveill…

>Someone that does not want to be tracked by facial or gait recognition, either because he's a criminal or a political activist, will always be able to do that.

Tons of political activists (and of course tons of criminals too) have been caught by way simpler and easier to trick methods.

Re: Singapore to test facial recognition on lampposts, stoking privacy fears

#25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Should a European citizen visit Singapore, would this be GDPR compliant? I’m sure Singapore doesn’t care. The truth about Singapore is that it pretty much is a police state, which has pretty extensive restrictions on individual freedoms. But... they do actually deliver on the supposed benefits of organising a society in that manner. Singapore is safe, clean and orderly. I wouldn’t say that’s the best way to run a co…

And yet crime still does occur, and lifestyle choices are severely punished by jail, death, loss of career and loss of residency. And by lifestyle choices I mean being gay, smoking weed, or being Malay. I would quite literally live in any Chinese city before chosing Singapore. At least China would be cheaper.

>And yet crime still does occur

Compared to other countries, in the region, but even in the west, very little.

>and lifestyle choices are severely punished by jail, death, loss of career and loss of residency.

Well, the US used to send you to prison for some marijuana just a few years ago. Some states still do. It's also quite punishable still in countries like Sweden. And all the others used to be problems not that long ago (maybe not being Malay, but "walking while black" still is). So it's not like Singapore is this nightmare outlier place.

https://queerintheworld.com/gay-singapore-travel-guide/

Re: Singapore to test facial recognition on lampposts, stoking privacy fears

#26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And yet crime still does occur, and lifestyle choices are severely punished by jail, death, loss of career and loss of residency. And by lifestyle choices I mean being gay, smoking weed, or being Malay. I would quite literally live in any Chinese city before chosing Singapore. At least China would be cheaper.

There are many openly gay people in Singapore. I'm glad weed is banned, as is every other drug. Malay people are not stigmatized in Singapore. I would quite literally live in any Asian country before choosing any Western country. But hey, each to their own right?

banned, as is every other drug

Alcohol and tobacco are banned in Singapore?!

Re: Singapore to test facial recognition on lampposts, stoking privacy fears

#27
post #18

Someone that does not want to be tracked by facial or gait recognition, either because he's a criminal or a political activist, will always be able to do that. There might be a race between the recognition software and the circumvention technology, but a dedicated individual will always be able to avoid that. Normal people without any criminal, terrorist or activist intentions will be victims of this massive surveill…

> Someone that does not want to be tracked by facial or gait recognition, either because he's a criminal or a political activist, will always be able to do that

I wouldn't be so sure. How well can you control your stance or manner of walking for example?

Someone (human) trained to differentiate authors of handwritten text can often still do so even if an author is actively trying to write differently.

I think ML is great for comparing these highly subtle traits.

Re: Singapore to test facial recognition on lampposts, stoking privacy fears

#28
post #20
post #15

Worst part is, you can't just go and destroy them because they will know who did it.

deploy jammer in area/cut network lines to disrupt access before destroying infrastructure

What would be a jammer in this case? Is there or will there be such widely available technology?

Re: Singapore to test facial recognition on lampposts, stoking privacy fears

#29
post #10

"Yes we can so this", technically, facial recognition is now there. "Why are we doing this?" Singapore is an already incredibly safe place with pride in the effectiveness of the rule of law. The screenshot, as captioned: > SenseTime surveillance software identifying details about people and vehicles runs as a demonstration at the company's office in Beijing, China, October 11, 2017. REUTERS/Thomas Peter/File Photo Im…

Should a European citizen visit Singapore, would this be GDPR compliant?

Yes, the GDPR doesn't apply based on citizenship, it applies to people in the Union (even if they're foreign).

Re: Singapore to test facial recognition on lampposts, stoking privacy fears

#30
post #10

"Yes we can so this", technically, facial recognition is now there. "Why are we doing this?" Singapore is an already incredibly safe place with pride in the effectiveness of the rule of law. The screenshot, as captioned: > SenseTime surveillance software identifying details about people and vehicles runs as a demonstration at the company's office in Beijing, China, October 11, 2017. REUTERS/Thomas Peter/File Photo Im…

Am European citizen, I don’t care for Singapore and I won’t plan to visit it any time soon because 1) they’re too expensive for what they’re offering as a tourist destination and 2) they’re a police State. At the same time one of my closest friends has included it as part of his “potential places to emigrate as an IT professional”, so it looks like some people plain don’t care about the type of stuff described in this article.
Post reply on HN