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Facial recognition: It’s time for action

blogs.microsoft.com

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Re: Facial recognition: It’s time for action

#211

Post by BurningFrog »

PaulKeeble wrote: post #26

Biometrics are creeping into everyday life. One of my local gyms this week switched to requiring fingerprints or you were barred from access. Another local gym uses facial recognition for entrance, although you can choose to have a member card instead if you ask for it directly, they don't list it as an option. Thankfully in the EU we have GDPR. It considers biometrics as a similar sensitivity to medical data, so unl…

Facial recognition for gym entrance sounds wonderful!

If that's banned I'll be in the Resistance!

Re: Facial recognition: It’s time for action

#212

Post by sonnyblarney »

JaRail wrote: post #112
benwerd wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This stands in stark contrast to the meeting I attended on Tuesday with Amazon's general counsel regarding their Rekognition service. And I think that cuts to the core of this: this is an anti-Amazon move. Nonetheless, I do also think it's a pro-consumer, pro-civil liberties stance. It's also a recognition that the tide is turning with respect to consumers and privacy; here, Microsoft is getting ahead of this chang…

I'm not convinced the US will be passing much of anything in the next two-years. Passing pro-privacy regulation? Seems very unlikely to me. Microsoft should engage with Canada and the EU where technology/privacy regulation is gaining traction.

Only 3 Republican senators need to support it, and there's a ton of them that don't care so much for Trump.

If enough industry people are on the side of it and/or there no populist fight over it, Trump would have no reason to veto it.

I don't think Trump really cares that much about these things, it'll only be a thing if it turns into a pop-culture war in which he may choose sides.

But if MS and a bunch of other heavyweights are in favour of it, he just might even go for it.

It's possible. But more likely in a few years.

Re: Facial recognition: It’s time for action

#213

Post by samstave »

AlexCoventry wrote: post #204
samstave wrote: post #108

Facial recognition should be expressly illegal. Period. As should license plate surveillance. And for those that think that license plate surveillance should be legal, what you do not know is that municipalities are mandating that private corporations install license tracking cameras on their facilities and report back to the municipality who is driving by that address. Menlo park is just one such municipality.

It's a computation. Laws against it are unenforceable in general, absent draconian restrictions on computing devices.

This is HN. I fucking get it.

Facial recognition surveillance technology deployed in any public sphere should be expressly illegal. Period.

Re: Facial recognition: It’s time for action

#214

Post by kohanz »

bsenftner wrote: post #187
benwerd wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This stands in stark contrast to the meeting I attended on Tuesday with Amazon's general counsel regarding their Rekognition service. And I think that cuts to the core of this: this is an anti-Amazon move. Nonetheless, I do also think it's a pro-consumer, pro-civil liberties stance. It's also a recognition that the tide is turning with respect to consumers and privacy; here, Microsoft is getting ahead of this chang…

Amazon's Rekognition is a joke: it is weak FR, does not have basic features, and is overly expensive. The only thing they have going for them is Amazon's PR. They fooled you into thinking their Yugo of a product is anything at all. Disclaimer: I work at a real FR company, and Rekognition is no where, a non-contender in quality, features and price. A joke.

Which would make it even more potentially harmful in this context, if it is relied upon.

Re: Facial recognition: It’s time for action

#215

Post by steelframe »

geephroh wrote: post #11

This is a laudable first step in advocacy for real regulation of a technology that already has huge impacts on privacy and civil society. I was in the room for one of the meetings with Microsoft's senior leadership as a representative of a Seattle-based civil liberties group. While our coalition would like to see MS go further, it was quite clear that they take their commitment to corporate responsibility and ethics…

> He also denied that Amazon had any responsibility for the negative impacts of their AI/ML technologies, or role to play in industry efforts to self-regulate.

As someone who's worked in the tech sector in the Seattle area for over a decade, I could have told you that would happen. One of Amazon's core values is minimizing expense -- it's baked into their DNA. It doesn't matter what the issue is. If it costs Amazon money, they HATE it.

Re: Facial recognition: It’s time for action

#216

Post by janesvilleseo »

steelframe wrote: post #215
geephroh wrote: post #11

This is a laudable first step in advocacy for real regulation of a technology that already has huge impacts on privacy and civil society. I was in the room for one of the meetings with Microsoft's senior leadership as a representative of a Seattle-based civil liberties group. While our coalition would like to see MS go further, it was quite clear that they take their commitment to corporate responsibility and ethics…

> He also denied that Amazon had any responsibility for the negative impacts of their AI/ML technologies, or role to play in industry efforts to self-regulate. As someone who's worked in the tech sector in the Seattle area for over a decade, I could have told you that would happen. One of Amazon's core values is minimizing expense -- it's baked into their DNA. It doesn't matter what the issue is. If it costs Amazon m…

Class action lawsuits can cost a lot of money. If the system is found to be biased there may be grounds to sue.

Lots of potential problems can arise. I wonder how they bake those into their DNA?

Re: Facial recognition: It’s time for action

#217

Post by herrosheep »

There needs to be a device that you can jam under your chin to disfigure your face for some period of time. Granted this would not be legal or pain free, but might be required in special situations like misidentification. I could absolutely see a device like this being sold on the black market in the future.

Re: Facial recognition: It’s time for action

#218

Post by halr9000 »

benwerd wrote: post #161
JaRail wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not convinced the US will be passing much of anything in the next two-years. Passing pro-privacy regulation? Seems very unlikely to me. Microsoft should engage with Canada and the EU where technology/privacy regulation is gaining traction.

I'm not so sure - I don't necessarily think it'll be federal straight away, but I think there's real possibility of state-by-state rules, which will eventually give way to federal.

This is the best way anyways. 50 experiments will lead to a better outcome.
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