Biometrics (34)
Find narratives by ethical themes or by technologies.
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- 7 min
- Slate
- 2019
Discussion of Facebook’s massive collection of human faces and their potential impact on society.
- Slate
- 2019
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- 7 min
- Slate
- 2019
Facebook’s Face-ID Database Could Be the Biggest in the World. Yes, It Should Worry Us.
Discussion of Facebook’s massive collection of human faces and their potential impact on society.
Is Facebook’s facial recognition database benign, or a slow-bubbling volcano?
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- 7 min
- Wired
- 2021
An anonymous college student created a website titled “Faces of the Riot,” a virtual wall containing over 6,000 face images of insurrectionists present at the riot at the Capitol on January 6th, 2021. The ultimate goal of the creator’s site, which used facial recognition algorithms to crawl through videos posted to the right-wing social media site Parler, is to hopefully have viewers identify any criminals that they recognize to the proper authorities. While the creator put safeguards for privacy in place, such as using “facial detection” rather than “facial recognition”, and their intentions are supposedly positive, some argue that the implications on privacy and the widespread integration of this technique could be negative.
- Wired
- 2021
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- 7 min
- Wired
- 2021
This Site Published Every Face From Parler’s Capitol Riot Videos
An anonymous college student created a website titled “Faces of the Riot,” a virtual wall containing over 6,000 face images of insurrectionists present at the riot at the Capitol on January 6th, 2021. The ultimate goal of the creator’s site, which used facial recognition algorithms to crawl through videos posted to the right-wing social media site Parler, is to hopefully have viewers identify any criminals that they recognize to the proper authorities. While the creator put safeguards for privacy in place, such as using “facial detection” rather than “facial recognition”, and their intentions are supposedly positive, some argue that the implications on privacy and the widespread integration of this technique could be negative.
Who deserves to be protected from having shameful data about themselves posted publicly to the internet? Should there even be any limits on this? What would happen if a similar website appeared in a less seemingly noble context, such as identifying members of a minority group in a certain area? How could sites like this expand the agency of bad or discriminatory actors?
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- 40 min
- New York Times Magazine
- 2021
This article goes into extraordinary detail on the company Clearview AI, a company whose algorithm has crawled the public web to provide over 3 billion photos of faces with links that travel to the original source of each photo. Discusses the legality and privacy concerns of this technology, how the technology has already been used by law enforcement and in court cases, and the founding of the company. Private use of technology similar to that of Clearview AI could revolutionize society and may move us to the post-privacy era.
- New York Times Magazine
- 2021
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- 40 min
- New York Times Magazine
- 2021
Your Face Is Not Your Own
This article goes into extraordinary detail on the company Clearview AI, a company whose algorithm has crawled the public web to provide over 3 billion photos of faces with links that travel to the original source of each photo. Discusses the legality and privacy concerns of this technology, how the technology has already been used by law enforcement and in court cases, and the founding of the company. Private use of technology similar to that of Clearview AI could revolutionize society and may move us to the post-privacy era.
Should companies like Clearview AI exist? How would facial recognition be misused by both authorities and the general public if it were to permeate all aspects of life?
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- 7 min
- Slate
- 2021
A new law passed unanimously in Maine heavily restricts the contexts in which facial recognition technology can be deployed, putting significant guardrails around how it is used by law enforcement. Also, it allows citizens to sue if they believe the technology has been misused. This is a unique step in a time when several levels of government, all the way up to the federal government, are less likely to attach strict rules to the use of facial recognition technology, despite the clear bias that is seen in the wake of its use.
- Slate
- 2021
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- 7 min
- Slate
- 2021
Maine Now Has the Toughest Facial Recognition Restrictions in the U.S.
A new law passed unanimously in Maine heavily restricts the contexts in which facial recognition technology can be deployed, putting significant guardrails around how it is used by law enforcement. Also, it allows citizens to sue if they believe the technology has been misused. This is a unique step in a time when several levels of government, all the way up to the federal government, are less likely to attach strict rules to the use of facial recognition technology, despite the clear bias that is seen in the wake of its use.
How can tech companies do even more to lobby for stricter facial recognition regulation? Is a moratorium on facial recognition use by all levels of government the best plan? Why or why not? Does creating “more diverse datasets” truly solve all the problems of bias with the technology?
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- 7 min
- Amnesty International
- 2021
Amnesty International released a statement detailing its opposition of widespread use of facial recognition technology for mass surveillance purposes based on its misuse and unfair impacts over Black communities and the chilling effect which it would create on peaceful protest.
- Amnesty International
- 2021
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- 7 min
- Amnesty International
- 2021
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL CALLS FOR BAN ON THE USE OF FACIAL RECOGNITION TECHNOLOGY FOR MASS SURVEILLANCE
Amnesty International released a statement detailing its opposition of widespread use of facial recognition technology for mass surveillance purposes based on its misuse and unfair impacts over Black communities and the chilling effect which it would create on peaceful protest.
Is more accurate facial recognition technology a good thing or a bad thing? How would FRT be weaponized to justify policing policies that are already unfair toward Black communities? Why is anonymity important, both in protest scenarios and elsewhere? Can anyone be anonymous in the age of digital technology? What amount of anonymity is appropriate?
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- 5 min
- CNET
- 2019
Fight for the Future, a digital activist group, used Amazon’s Rekognition facial recognition software to scan faces on the street in Washington DC to show that there should be more guardrails on the use of this type of technology, before it is deployed for ends which violate human rights such as identifying peaceful protestors.
- CNET
- 2019
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- 5 min
- CNET
- 2019
Demonstrators scan public faces in DC to show lack of facial recognition laws
Fight for the Future, a digital activist group, used Amazon’s Rekognition facial recognition software to scan faces on the street in Washington DC to show that there should be more guardrails on the use of this type of technology, before it is deployed for ends which violate human rights such as identifying peaceful protestors.
Does this kind of stunt seem effective at getting the attention of the public on the ways that facial recognition can be misused? How? Who decides what is a “positive” use of facial recognition technology, and how can these use cases be negotiated with those citizens who want their privacy protected?