Your Inbox Is Spying on You
(NY Times, Jul 10, 2019)
That’s the rough trajectory of two recent privacy stories in just the past week. The first is an update to a story I wrote last month about Google quietly monitoring and storing all your purchases across sites like Amazon. When the CNBC discovered the story, Google assured concerned users that they could delete their purchase history. A follow-up report from CNBC suggests that contrary to Google’s claims, the fix doesn’t remove the purchase history. The company, according to the report, “is looking into it.”
Opposition Politicians Voice “Mission Creep” Fears Over Alexa’s NHS Access
(CBR, Jul 10, 2019)
he new service is to all extents and purposes simply a voice-powered application that plugs user’s verbal requests into already public NHS content via an API. User privacy concerns should be of no more concern, in theory, at this point than those for users searching up symptoms online, although Amazon’s recent admissions on this front perhaps mitigate against such easy acceptance.
Tackling The Digital Identity Security Crisis With Biometric Fingerprint Technology
(Tech Native, Jul 10, 2019)
Despite rising concern around the security of personal data, our recent research revealed a surprising lack of awareness regarding the actual value of people’s personal data. The research found three-in-five (59%) consumers worried about the security of their personal information, but in the same research almost three quarters (73%) said they would be prepared to give up their name in exchange for a free coffee, and an astonishing third (33%) would even be prepared to share their date of birth. Highlighting an obvious disconnect between the public’s concerns and their behaviour.
Govt Excludes Senior Citizens From Biometric Verification Rule
(Tech Juice, Jul 10, 2019)
The government has decided to eliminate the condition of biometric verification for the senior citizens and for those who have unclear fingerprints. The government on Tuesday decided to abolish the mandatory condition to facilitate citizens to open bank accounts and to get their CNIC, and SIM without having to perform biometric verification.
DHS Officials Set For Grilling Over Facial Recognition Tech
(The Hill, Jul 10, 2019)
Officials with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) are set to testify before a House panel on Wednesday about the government’s use of facial recognition as Congress presses toward legislation curtailing the use of the controversial technology.
ODOT Says It Doesn't Run Photos For Law Enforcement Through Facial Recognition Software
(JPR, Jul 10, 2019)
The Oregon Department of Transportation says it doesn’t run photos through its facial recognition system to help law enforcement agencies identify individuals.
Are China’s Facial Recognition Trials Really The Example The Met Police Want To Follow?
(Open Democracy, Jul 10, 2019)
This technological leap means it is now possible for a state like the UK to track the whereabouts of its citizens at all times. It also means it isn’t only our activities that are now monitored, but our bodies. The minute details that make our faces our own, unique to us, are converted into data points to be analysed by an automated watcher. Each face is algorithmically cast over with suspicion, checked against the authority’s blacklist. Should you be here? Are you a criminal? Are you permitted?
Car Facial Recognition Will Play Music If You’re Bored And Change The Temperature If You’re Cold Just By Using Your Expression
(The Sun, Jul 10, 2019)
Jaguar Land Rover is developing an artificial intelligence system that will allow motorists to adjust in-car settings with their facial expressions. Using a camera and biometric sensors, the system will monitor the driver's behaviour and modify cabin settings such as heating, lighting and media.
Fight for The Future – Digital Rights Group Wants to Ban the Government Using Facial Recognition Surveillance
(Irvine Observer, Jul 10, 2019)
A digital rights group wants to ban the government from using facial recognition surveillance software completely. Fight for the Future’s new campaign, introduced Tuesday, consists of the website BanFacialRecognition.com, which asks visitors to contact lawmakers concerning the situation. The website mentions, Facial recognition surveillance technology is capricious, biased, and a menace to fundamental rights and safety.
Facebook- We Use AI to Analyze Every Photo You Upload
(Vogel Express, Jul 10, 2019)
A Facebook outage that additionally affected Instagram and WhatsApp on Thursday revealed what may be a surprising development to some Fb customers: the corporate makes use of artificial intelligence (AI) to catalog the contents of every photograph you upload to its servers. Each. Single. Photograph.
‘No Legal Basis’ For Facial Recognition Cameras At Brussels Airport
(Brussels Time, Jul 10, 2019)
The plan to install facial recognition cameras at airports lacks legal basis, a legal expert said on Wednesday after a federal police commissioner announced plans to install the devices at Brussels Zaventem airport.
Our View: Searches Show How Privacy Laws Have Fallen Behind
(Press Herald, Jul 10, 2019)
Federal investigators accessed hundreds of millions of photos from databases, just the latest example of how privacy rights are eroding.
Chinese Police Officers Are Wearing Facial Recognition Sunglasses
(Fair Planet, Jul 10, 2019)
China has just undergone its annual Spring Festival, also known around the world for being the biggest human migration on the planet with nearly 3 billion passenger trips made into the country between the end of January and the beginning of March.
Facial-recognition Use By Federal Agencies Draws Lawmakers’ Anger
(Washington Post, Jul 10, 2019)
State and federal lawmakers are calling for new rules and investigations surrounding the use of facial-recognition scans of driver’s license databases by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other agencies, fueling a debate over the technology some on Capitol Hill have said represents a “massive breach of privacy and trust.”
Here’s Why We Need More Diversity In Ai
(Fast Company, Jul 10, 2019)
At the Fast Company European Innovation Festival in Milan today, tech executives discussed how artificial intelligence is only as good as the data that trains it.
