“This is largely in relation to the WhatsApp messaging app owned by Facebook, through which information deemed to be a public threat can be promulgated.” Facebook wants India’s Supreme Court to decide whether it can be compelled to share users’ Aadhaar information with law enforcement authorities. The company is facing similar lawsuits in four different…
“Police use of facial recognition software is the latest example of Orwellian technology that violates our privacy and civil liberties under the guise of public safety and it must stop.” Bernie Sanders has made facial recognition an important component of his campaign platform, calling for a complete ban on the police use of the technology.…
One of the investors in a major development near King’s Cross station in central London is investigating the use of facial recognition technology on the property. The 67-acre development includes Google and Samsung offices, in addition to shops, schools, and other public-facing services and amenities. The investor in question is the BT Pension Scheme (BTPS),…
The UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has launched an investigation into the use of facial recognition surveillance technology in the Granary Square development. Located near King’s Cross station in central London, the development consists of 50 separate buildings spread across 67 acres of land in the middle of the city. The British privacy watchdog opened…
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost has announced that law enforcement officers will now need to undergo training in order to gain access to the state’s Ohio Law Enforcement Gateway (OHLEG), which includes the state’s facial recognition database. Until then, the AG is cutting off access to thousands of state officials, dropping the number of people…
The Electronic Frontier Foundation has weighed in on the recent Appellate Court ruling that cleared the way for a class action lawsuit against Facebook. The lawsuit alleges that Facebook gathered biometric information from users without achieving proper consent. The facts of the case haven’t changed since earlier reports, but the EFF’s breakdown does help explain…
The US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has cleared the way for a class action lawsuit against Facebook, ruling that “Facebook users located in Illinois for whom Facebook created and stored a face template after June 7, 2011,” are indeed a certified class entitled to legal representation. The ruling reaffirms the initial decision of Northern…
“It’s aimed primarily at protecting tenants’ privacy, and defending them against potential over-policing.” A trio of Congresswomen have announced a new piece of legislation aimed at banning the use of biometric recognition in most public and assisted housing units funded by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Billed “The No Biometric Barriers Housing Act…
Privacy advocates in India are speaking out against the growing prevalence of facial recognition technology following the debut of an extensive biometric boarding system at the country’s Bengaluru airport. The system eliminates the need for paper boarding passes and ID documents, allowing travelers to move through the airport using their face for identity verification. Proponents…
The Orlando Police Department is giving up on its trial deployment of Amazon’s Rekognition platform, once again ending its on again/off again relationship with the tech giant. The facial recognition tech was supposed to be part of a surveillance pilot that would allow the OPD to track suspicious individuals through the city in real time.…
This week could see the further development of a small but growing trend toward banning the government’s use of facial recognition technology, with the Oakland City Council set to discuss a proposed ban in a meeting scheduled for Tuesday. Introduced earlier this year, the proposed ban would only apply to the municipal government, prohibiting it…
Google Search Product Manager David Monsees has taken to the company’s blog to emphasize its commitment to privacy and clarify some of its policies around the use of audio data. The post was written after one of the company’s language experts leaked confidential Dutch audio data, with Monsees noting that the leak is a violation…
Amazon is facing a potential class action lawsuit due to its recording policies with Alexa. According to a report in The Seattle Times, the lawsuit was filed in Seattle on behalf of a ten-year-old girl in Massachusetts, and alleges that the tech giant has been illegally recording the conversations of children without the consent of…
Microsoft’s MS Celeb dataset of face images has been quietly taken down by the company. The open source dataset has been used to train and test facial recognition systems, with major names like IBM, Panasonic, Alibaba, and Hitachi having used it for their own purposes. Ostensibly a collection of Public Domain celebrity photos, MS Celeb…
“Testifying at this week’s congressional hearing, an FBI representative asserted that the organization is committed to the protection of citizen’s privacy and civil liberties…” The FBI’s collection of citizens’ face images appears to have expanded considerably since a 2016 report from the Government Accountability Office exposed its secret Facial Analysis, Comparison, and Evaluation, or “FACE”,…
The New York State Department of Education has asked the Lockport City School District to delay its deployment of the first facial recognition surveillance system in a public school. The news comes shortly after Lockport announced that it would begin a trial run of its $1.4 million Aegis network on Monday, June 3rd, in an…
The Biometrics Institute is asking law enforcement, border control, and other government agencies to exhibit good behavior when deploying biometric technology, warning that it may be regulated for them if they use it irresponsibly and go on to lose public trust. “It is vital that anyone using biometrics to identify individuals follows responsible and ethical…
“The news of TPS’s use of facial recognition technology arrives at a time of heated debate over such practices, with civil and privacy rights advocates warning of potential overreach, as well as racial and gender disparities in the accuracy of facial recognition systems.” Police in Toronto have been using facial recognition technology for over a…
“The IBIA is not alone in taking issue with the ban; after the legislation passed its Board vote, an advocacy group called Stop Crime SF issued a statement insisting that the ban could have been a moratorium, since facial recognition technology shows considerable potential as a crime-fighting tool. “ The International Biometrics + Identity Association…