5 Additional Airlines Join TSA Pre✓
(ACI-NA, Aug 13, 2019)
The Transportation Security Administration announced today the expansion of its TSA Pre✓® expedited screening program with Austrian Airlines, Swoop, PAL Express, VivaAerobus and Interjet. The five additional carriers bring the number of airlines participating in TSA Pre✓® to 72 domestic and international carriers.
Who Stands To Benefit The Most From New Data Privacy Laws? Lawyers New Commentary In ITIF’s Innovation Files
(ITIF, Aug 13, 2019)
Equifax, one of the nation’s three credit reporting agencies, recently announced a multi-million dollar settlement for a 2017 breach that affected 143 million Americans. At first glance, this might seem like justice for the little guy. But a closer look shows that the ones who stand to get the biggest payoff are the well-heeled lawyers who crafted the deal. Moreover, the sharks have smelled the blood in the water, and so these types of high-cost payouts could soon become the norm.
Google Rolls Out Password-Free Logins for Android Users
(Extreme Tech , Aug 13, 2019)
Throughout all of modern computing history, passwords have been the primary method of securing data. The problems with passwords are numerous, but things are slowly changing with biometrics, hardware security keys, and so on. Google is leveraging several new technologies to make one of its sites password-free, but only for Android users.
Ninth Circuit Allows Class Action Challenging Facebook’s Facial Recognition Technology Under Illinois BIPA
(Lexology, Aug 13, 2019)
On August 8, 2019, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit allowed a class action brought by Illinois residents to proceed against Facebook under the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (“BIPA”) (740 ICLS 14/1, et seq.).
U.K. Watchdog To Investigate Facial Recognition Surveillance -- And Google's One Of The Victims
(Forbes, Aug 13, 2019)
The UK's Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) is to investigate the use of facial recognition at the King's Cross development site in London. While the estate is home to Google and its DeepMind subsidiary, it's not the tech giant that's responsible; rather, it's the owners of the site, making Google for once the subject of surveillance rather than the surveiller.
Facial-Recognition Software Mistook One in Five California Lawmakers for Convicts
(The Daily Beast, Aug 13, 2019)
One in five California lawmakers were mistaken for convicted criminals in an experiment testing the reliability of facial-recognition software in identifying potentially dangerous suspects. The Los Angeles Times reports that local assemblyman Phil Ting called for the experiment as part of a bill to ban the use of such technology by police and law-enforcement agencies.
Whole Foods Employees Demand Amazon Break All Ties With ICE And Palantir
(Infosurhoy, Aug 13, 2019)
Pressure is mounting against Amazon’s continued involvement with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), with Whole Foods employees now demanding the company cease ties with the agency through its business dealings with the controversial government contractor Palantir. The demands, posted in a public letter earlier today by the Whole Foods unionization group Whole Worker, direct harsh words at the parent company of the grocery chain, which Amazon purchased for $13.7 billion in 2017.
Can Anyone Halt The Menacing Creep Of Facial Recognition Technology?
(The Guardian, Aug 13, 2019)
Compared with living in a small community, where everyone knows you, big cities have always offered a large degree of anonymity. You are just one tiny speck in a sea of humanity. It is a place where one can slip, unnoticed, into the crowd, and where people can, should they wish, reinvent themselves.
Surveillance Technology And Cultural Notions Of Privacy
(Forbes, Aug 13, 2019)
Earlier this year, San Francisco became the first city in the United States to ban the use of facial recognition technology. In Britain, however, facial recognition technology has been the focus of political deliberations where the UK human rights charity, Liberty, joined complainant, Ed Bridges, a “father of two, a football fan and a campaigner on human rights” in his lawsuit against this technology. Last year, Bridges, an experienced human rights campaigner, realized that facial recognition cameras had been scanning the faces of passers-by, without their consent, storing these individuals’ biometric data.
US Border Agency Using Facial Recognition To Scan Travellers
(My Broadband, Aug 13, 2019)
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency is set to expand its use of facial recognition, deploying the controversial technology to screen people entering the country, according to a government document released recently.
People Recovering From Alcohol Use Disorder Struggle To Recognize Angry Facial Expressions
(News-Medical, Aug 13, 2019)
People in early-stage recovery from alcohol use disorder can struggle to recognize facial expressions of emotion ─particularly anger ─according to a study published in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research. The findings build on mounting evidence that long-term alcohol misuse may impair the brain's ability to process facial emotion. As facial expressions are important for interpersonal and social functioning, this might contribute to the development of interpersonal difficulties, which are common among people with alcohol use disorder and reduce the likelihood of a successful recovery.
