Letter: SF Public Defender’s Racial Justice Committee Supports Davis’ Proposed Ban on Facial Recognition
(The David Vanguard, Mar 30, 2024)
I am pleased to see that the City of Davis is considering protecting our constitutional right to privacy by opposing the adoption of Facial Recognition Technology (FRT). FRT is an Orwellian tool that has been proven to be unfair and racially biased. It is heartening to see that the City of Davis is taking this stance, especially when the City of San Francisco is attempting to gut its own ban on Facial Recognition. I believe that FRT should be banned completely. As many of you may already know, FRT is biased against people of color due to the inaccurate training sets used in its development. This leads to a classic garbage-in, garbage-out scenario. Even if FRT were to use accurate training sets, the technology still poses a deep problem.
Fighting Benefits Fraud Requires a Holistic Approach to ID Verification
(Government Technology, Apr 01, 2024)
Facial recognition is just one weapon for fighting fraud and preserving the mission of social-welfare agencies. Moreover, facial-ID techniques create privacy and fairness issues that are still being resolved. Securing the social safety net is thus an immense challenge, requiring a holistic and multi-layered strategy that combines:
Wait, why is There a Camera Hole in That Coke Vending Machine?
(Fortune, May 29, 2024)
While a camera embedded in a soda machine might sound absurd, businesses and event venues are increasingly using new facial analysis and recognition technologies in public settings. MSG Entertainment, which owns the Madison Square Garden sports arena as well as other venues like Radio City Music Hall, has recently used facial recognition technology to bar lawyers working for firms engaged in legal battles with the company from attending any events at its New York venues. More airports are adding it at security checkpoints, too. And just this February, students at the University of Waterloo pressured its administration to remove vending machines secretly embedded with facial analysis technology.
UK to Replace Biometric Residence Permits with eVisas from 2025
(The Financial Express, Mar 31, 2024)
An eVisa is an online record of your immigration status and the criteria under which you are permitted to enter or stay in the United Kingdom. To access your eVisa, you’ll need to register a UKVI account. “eVisas will replace UK biometric residence permits (BRPs) and biometric residence cards (BRCs), passport endorsements, such as indefinite leave to enter wet ink stamps and vignette stickers contained in passports, such as entry clearance or visa vignettes,” says Dubal.
Quebec Lawyer Plans Biometric Data Privacy Lawsuit Against Ecommerce App Temu
(Biometric Update, Apr 01, 2024)
The Quebec class action seeks to represent all residents of Quebec who have used the Temu application, either by downloading it directly or through electronic communications. In addition to collecting biometric information, Grass claims that Temu has been gathering geospatial data to track a user’s location history, which is not relevant to online shopping.
