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posted by Fnord666 on Monday June 29 2020, @10:54AM   Printer-friendly
from the business-opportunity dept.

Nationwide Facial Recognition Ban Proposed By Lawmakers:

Lawmakers have proposed legislation that would indefinitely ban the use of facial recognition technology by law enforcement nationwide. The new bill comes after months of public concerns surrounding facial recognition's implications for data privacy, government surveillance and racial bias.

The Facial Recognition and Biometric Technology Moratorium Act was proposed Thursday by Sens. Ed Markey (D-MA) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR), and Reps. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) and Ayanna Pressley (D-MA). While various cities have banned government use of the technology (with Boston this week becoming the tenth U.S. city to do so), the bill would be the first temporary ban on facial recognition technology ever enacted nationwide.

The newly proposed bill would "prohibit biometric surveillance by the Federal Government without explicit statutory authorization and to withhold certain Federal public safety grants from State and local governments that engage in biometric surveillance."

[...] The ban has no definitive time limit in place, and would continue until Congress passed a law to lift it.

[...] "Facial recognition technology doesn't just pose a grave threat to our privacy, it physically endangers Black Americans and other minority populations in our country," said Senator Markey in a statement. "In this moment, the only responsible thing to do is to prohibit government and law enforcement from using these surveillance mechanisms."

I see nothing blocking companies from using recognition -- facial or otherwise -- and whose data government agencies could request or subpoena.


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  • (Score: 2, Disagree) by SomeGuy on Monday June 29 2020, @12:21PM (18 children)

    by SomeGuy (5632) on Monday June 29 2020, @12:21PM (#1014030)

    The genie is out of the bottle. Facial recognition already exists and is already being used. Soon even your box of Frosted Flakes will recognize your face.

    The best we can really hope for, and should demand, is complete transparency in how and when facial recognition or similar technologies are used.

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  • (Score: 2) by hendrikboom on Monday June 29 2020, @12:38PM (8 children)

    by hendrikboom (1125) Subscriber Badge on Monday June 29 2020, @12:38PM (#1014034) Homepage Journal

    Whoaa! Better avoid Frosted Flakes, then.

    • (Score: 2) by SomeGuy on Monday June 29 2020, @12:55PM (7 children)

      by SomeGuy (5632) on Monday June 29 2020, @12:55PM (#1014042)

      Good luck with that. The entire point is you won't be able to avoid facial recognition. You will have your face scanned dozens of times just to buy food.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 29 2020, @12:58PM (6 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 29 2020, @12:58PM (#1014044)

        Not when we're all wearing plague masks.

        • (Score: 3, Insightful) by takyon on Monday June 29 2020, @01:16PM (5 children)

          by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Monday June 29 2020, @01:16PM (#1014050) Journal
          • (Score: 3, Interesting) by c0lo on Monday June 29 2020, @03:25PM (4 children)

            by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Monday June 29 2020, @03:25PM (#1014114) Journal

            They can say whatever they want, just paint some eyes on it [pinimg.com]. Even better, make the mask reflective, the CV will have troubles of recognizing where my face ends.

            --
            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
            • (Score: 2) by takyon on Monday June 29 2020, @04:10PM (3 children)

              by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Monday June 29 2020, @04:10PM (#1014131) Journal

              That will just flag you for intense scrutiny since almost nobody will do that.

              Also, gait recognition [apnews.com] and other tools will get you.

              --
              [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
              • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Monday June 29 2020, @04:21PM

                by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Monday June 29 2020, @04:21PM (#1014140) Journal

                That will just flag you for intense scrutiny

                Barring Richelieu, that will be extremely inefficient for them, they'll spend heaps searching for me and trying to prove I did something wrong. Wearing makeup or embellished Covid mask is not illegal.

                ... since almost nobody will do that.

                At first. But since the advantages are obvious...

                Also, gait recognition [apnews.com] and other tools will get you.

                Gait recognition is weak - just put a small pebble in one of your shoes.

                --
                https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
              • (Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Monday June 29 2020, @08:59PM (1 child)

                My car needs painting so lately I've been going over possible paint schemes. I had to throw out a General Lee possibility because the 01 would land between the doors and that would annoy me. So I thought camouflage. Then I thought, "When is my car ever going to be hiding in a forest? What it needs is urban camouflage. What would be the best urban camouflage?" My brain kicked back the answer "License plates over the whole bloody thing." It also pointed out that I'd be the most stopped by cops human being on the planet if I did that though.

                --
                My rights don't end where your fear begins.
                • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 30 2020, @04:26AM

                  by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 30 2020, @04:26AM (#1014386)

                  You could do like those people who sticker bomb their car until it's all unintelligible black and white lines. If you use the same color as the license plates and make the patterns just close enough to be confused for strings of numbers by whatever machine learning algorithm they use, that might work.

  • (Score: 2, Disagree) by The Mighty Buzzard on Monday June 29 2020, @01:01PM (7 children)

    Bloody stupid assertion. You could make the same argument about dumping toxic waste in rivers. Just because something is being done does not mean it can not be legally curtailed.

    --
    My rights don't end where your fear begins.
    • (Score: 2) by SomeGuy on Monday June 29 2020, @01:37PM (4 children)

      by SomeGuy (5632) on Monday June 29 2020, @01:37PM (#1014059)

      Please do try to curtail it, but there are so many other tracking technologies already in places where they really should not be, it seems like ubiquitous facial recognition is inevitable.

      Dumping toxic waste kills people. People won't complain about facial recognition when they are presented with "Put your face up to this camera and get a coupon for 10% off!".

      • (Score: 1, Offtopic) by c0lo on Monday June 29 2020, @02:22PM (3 children)

        by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Monday June 29 2020, @02:22PM (#1014083) Journal

        Please do try to curtail it, but there are so many other tracking technologies already in places where they really should not be, it seems like ubiquitous facial recognition is inevitable.

        Bloody wear a COVID mask, you know it's effective.

        --
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
        • (Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 29 2020, @02:30PM (1 child)

          by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 29 2020, @02:30PM (#1014087)

          But my freedoms!

          And Hillary's emails!

          • (Score: 2) by DannyB on Monday June 29 2020, @06:06PM

            by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Monday June 29 2020, @06:06PM (#1014187) Journal

            But my freedoms!

            I think you mean: But my rats!

            Ickspecially my 2nd amendment rats.

            --
            People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
        • (Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Monday June 29 2020, @09:00PM

          Not even if it's like a horse's feed bag but full of M&Ms.

          --
          My rights don't end where your fear begins.
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 29 2020, @05:00PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 29 2020, @05:00PM (#1014159)

      the libertarian is sooooo close to getting it

  • (Score: 2) by DannyB on Monday June 29 2020, @05:59PM

    by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Monday June 29 2020, @05:59PM (#1014182) Journal

    Soon even your box of Frosted Flakes will recognize your face.

    Not if you eat it first. Quickly.

    --
    People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.