facialrecognition
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Facial recognition linked to a second wrongful arrest by Detroit police
It's the second-known such case in the US to date.
Kris Holt07.10.2020
Members of Congress push to ban federal use of face recognition
It follows a case in which a man was wrongfully arrested after an incorrect biometric match.
Kris Holt06.25.2020
Appeals court allows Facebook facial recognition lawsuit to proceed
Facebook users now have the green light to sue the company over its use of facial recognition tech. The 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled in the plaintiffs' favor 3-0 after Facebook tried to block a class-action lawsuit which claims it illegally captured and stored millions of users' biometric data without their consent.
Kris Holt08.08.2019
Colorado college students were secretly used to train facial recognition
Researchers used over 1,700 photos of students and others without their permission for a facial recognition study sponsored by US military and intelligence services, according to the Colorado Springs Independent and Financial Times. While technically legal, it has raised questions about privacy around facial recognition tech, especially considering how the photos might end up being used. "This is essentially normalizing peeping Tom culture," the Electronic Frontier Foundation's David Maas told CSIndy.
Steve Dent05.28.2019
Amazon investors reject call to limit facial recognition system sales
Amazon shareholders have voted against a proposal to limit the company from selling its facial recognition technology to law enforcement and government agencies. The proposal, which highlighted concerns over the Rekognition system related to "civil and human rights and shareholder value," failed to pass at Amazon's annual investor meeting Wednesday, on the same day the House Oversight Committee held a hearing on facial recognition tech.
Kris Holt05.22.2019
Amazon asks delivery drivers to verify their identities with selfies
Amazon is asking its delivery drivers to take selfies so it can verify their identities using facial recognition. The rules apply to drivers in the Amazon Flex program, through which they make deliveries with their own cars as independent contractors, the company confirmed to The Verge.
Kris Holt04.19.2019
Microsoft didn't want to sell its facial recognition tech to California police
When it comes to facial recognition, it seems Microsoft truly has been trying to do good. Company president Brad Smith has revealed that the tech giant recently turned down a request from law enforcement to equip officers' cars and body cameras with face recognition tech. The California department apparently wanted to run a scan every time an officer pulls anyone over.
Mariella Moon04.17.2019
Amazon shareholders will vote to ban facial recognition tech
Amazon shareholders will vote to ban the company's controversial facial recognition technology next week in a key symbolic process. Amazon set the vote date, May 22nd, after the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rejected the company's request to have the motion squashed. A group of shareholders, led by nonprofit Open MIC, asked Amazon's board to stop selling the deep learning tools until a third party can confirm "it does not cause or contribute to actual or potential violations of human rights."
Steve Dent04.15.2019
Chinese surveillance company found tracking 2.5 million people
Security vulnerabilities are horrible, but one of them is shedding light on the reach of the Chinese surveillance state. Security researcher Victor Gevers discovered that facial recognition firm SenseNets left a surveillance database completely exposed, revealing that it has been tracking over 2.5 million people in the western province of Xinjiang, where China has targeted Uighur Muslims. The company has been holding on to personally identifying info (such as names and ID card numbers) as well as an extensive amount of location info, including 6.7 million data points tagged with names (such as "mosque" and "hotel") gathered inside of 24 hours.
Jon Fingas02.17.2019
Amazon joins Microsoft in calling for regulation of facial recognition tech
Faced with mounting criticism of its "Rekognition" system, Amazon has come out in favor of legislating facial recognition technology. In a blog post, the company has revealed its "proposed guidelines" for the responsible use of the tech that it hopes policymakers in the US and worldwide will consider when drafting new laws.
Saqib Shah02.08.2019
Android Q might include an equivalent to Apple's Face ID
To date, Android phone makers who've wanted to include face recognition have had to craft their own secure solutions or else use basic face detection that you can fool with a photo. Soon, however, it might be relatively commonplace. Sleuthers at XDA and 9to5Google have discovered code in an early Android Q version that hints at native support for hardware face recognition. It wouldn't just be used for signing into your phone, either, as it could also authorize purchases and sign into apps. It would largely be a parallel to the Face ID system found in Apple's more recent iPhones, just with more flexibility.
Jon Fingas01.27.2019
Google Assistant may scan your face to personalize commands
Google might soon have an alternative to voice matching when you want to use Assistant to get personalized results. The latest beta for Android's Google app includes code references to a previously hinted-at Face Match feature that, as the name implies, would scan your visage to provide tailored commands on camera-equipped devices. While there isn't a detailed description, you'd have to both train the system and could add multiple devices. Your face profile wouldn't be limited to one gadget, which some companies do in the name of security.
Jon Fingas01.27.2019
Amazon's facial-analysis tool showed gender and race bias, says study
Research suggests Amazon's facial analysis algorithms have struggled with gender and racial bias. The MIT Media Lab found Rekognition had no trouble at all in correctly pinpointing the gender of lighter-skinned men but it classified women as men almost a fifth of the time and darker-skinned women as men on almost one out of three occasions. IBM and Microsoft software performed better than Amazon's tool -- Microsoft's solution mistakenly thought darker-skinned women were men 1.5 percent of the time.
Kris Holt01.25.2019
Shareholders ask Amazon to halt sales of facial recognition tech
A group of Amazon shareholders has filed a resolution requesting the company stop selling its facial recognition technology to government agencies until a review can determine whether it has the potential to violate civil rights. Organized by the non-profit Open MIC and filed by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Brentwood, the resolution is supported by a total of five shareholder groups that hold $1.32 billion of Amazon shares.
Mallory Locklear01.17.2019
Beijing uses face-detecting smart locks to curb public housing abuses
China's ever-growing reliance on facial recognition is spreading to public housing. Beijing is ramping up the use of face-detecting smart locks in public housing projects to bolster security for tenants (such as denying access to strangers) and crack down on abuses like illegal sublets. It even asks management to check on senior residents if they haven't entered or left their homes after a certain period of time.
Jon Fingas12.31.2018
Court tosses lawsuit over Google Photos' facial recognition
Google Photos users nervous about facial recognition on the service aren't going to be very happy. A Chicago judge has granted Google a motion dismissing a lawsuit accusing the company of violating Illinois' Biometric Information Privacy Act by gathering biometric data from photos without permission. The plaintiffs couldn't demonstrate that they'd suffered "concrete injuries" from the facial recognition system, according to the judge.
Jon Fingas12.30.2018
Recommended Reading: How technology is changing entertainment
The future of entertainment Rolling Stone Whether it's music, movies or television, technology is rapidly changing the ways we experience entertainment. Rolling Stone offers a look at a number of ways things like AI, social media and more are altering the landscape, including how Taylor Swift concert organizers used facial recognition to track her stalkers.
Billy Steele12.15.2018
Google pledges to hold off on selling facial recognition technology
Today, Google shared information about some of the AI work it's doing in Asia, but in a blog post about the work, it also made a pretty clear statement about how its facial recognition technology will and won't be used for the time being. The company noted that while facial recognition systems stand to be quite useful in a variety of situations, from assistive technologies to locating missing people, they also comes with risks. "Like many technologies with multiple uses, facial recognition merits careful consideration to ensure its use is aligned with our principles and values, and avoids abuse and harmful outcomes," Google said. "We continue to work with many organizations to identify and address these challenges, and unlike some other companies, Google Cloud has chosen not to offer general-purpose facial recognition APIs before working through important technology and policy questions."
Mallory Locklear12.13.2018
Taylor Swift concert used facial recognition tech to identify stalkers
You're probably used to the presence of facial recognition cameras at airports and other transport hubs, but what about at concerts? That's the step Taylor Swift's team took at her May 18th show at the Rose Bowl, in a bid to identify her stalkers. According to Rolling Stone, the camera was hidden inside a display kiosk at the event, and sent images of anyone who stopped to look at the display to a "command post" in Nashville, where they were cross-referenced with other photos of the star's known stalkers.
Rachel England12.13.2018
Behind the quest to control a wheelchair with a smile
Facial recognition software has earned a difficult reputation over the past few years, what with its massive privacy implications and ease of being misused by governments and retailers alike, but the technology has just as many beneficial applications. Take the Wheelie 7, for example.
Andrew Tarantola12.07.2018