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What if the system makes a mistake? There is another article currently on the front page that is just the sort of mistake that some people fear could end up muc

What if the system makes a mistake? There is another article currently on the front page that is just the sort of mistake that some people fear could end up much, much worse[0]. [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19726528 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19726528

bayesian_horse 8y ago
In the case of the boarding situation, there are too worst-case scenarios: One being the system doesn't recognize a valid passenger, then he does have to show his boarding pass or another passport. Worse would be accepting someone who isn't allowed to board, but such things are easily mitigated. The potential to be mistaken for a wanted criminal has always been real. Facial recognition may even be more accurate overall in that regard. But it's nothing new. Drug sniffing dogs have false alarms all the time, some even cheat intentionally. And police officers better not shoot someone on sight when they recognize them from a mugshot.
- tareqak 8y ago
  The secondary issue with the story I linked was that there was an incorrect match that was made using details of the plaintiff obtained from a stolen ID and the plaintiff’s face. The primary issue was that the plaintiff had no idea that Apple’s Face ID was being used to help law enforcement with thefts at Apple Stores. The plaintiff had no idea that this was the case (it’s even news to me). It’s this sort of surreptitious sharing of images in facial recognition programs that’s worrying: a user might not know a priori because the details are buried in the terms of service that isn’t in plain language. What if this information is used to blacklist people who take advantage of hidden city flights using sites like skiplagged? You start off blacklisted by one airline, but they might have a database-sharing deal amongst them that’s presented to the user in TOS saying that it is a “cost-saving, fraud prevention program”. What if different carriers of different kinds of transportation start sharing the same database and synchronize in minutes? You might show up at the airport, get denied boarding for your flight for a reason you know how to fix, but then your Uber app denies you a ride because your face now matches their updated passenger blacklist database? Yes, these last two examples are contrived, but the technology is clearly there to hook it all up. Do we now need a to visit the local police station or some kind of PII credit bureau just to ensure that our record is clean and our identity has not been stolen? The EU government is already combining the biometric databases of its member states as seen here [0], so this sharing is starting to take place more openly. [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19717808 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19717808
  - bayesian_horse 8y ago
    Again: You need to be able to hold companies and governments accountable. If you can't do that, then tracking technology is the least of your worries. If Apple is violating the law, you can sue them. If the Chinese government tracks your movements, well, that's probably the least of your problems with the Chinese government...

bayesian_horse 8y ago

In the case of the boarding situation, there are too worst-case scenarios: One being the system doesn't recognize a valid passenger, then he does have to show his boarding pass or another passport. Worse would be accepting someone who isn't allowed to board, but such things are easily mitigated. The potential to be mistaken for a wanted criminal has always been real. Facial recognition may even be more accurate overall in that regard. But it's nothing new. Drug sniffing dogs have false alarms all the time, some even cheat intentionally. And police officers better not shoot someone on sight when they recognize them from a mugshot.

tareqak 8y ago
The secondary issue with the story I linked was that there was an incorrect match that was made using details of the plaintiff obtained from a stolen ID and the plaintiff’s face. The primary issue was that the plaintiff had no idea that Apple’s Face ID was being used to help law enforcement with thefts at Apple Stores. The plaintiff had no idea that this was the case (it’s even news to me). It’s this sort of surreptitious sharing of images in facial recognition programs that’s worrying: a user might not know a priori because the details are buried in the terms of service that isn’t in plain language. What if this information is used to blacklist people who take advantage of hidden city flights using sites like skiplagged? You start off blacklisted by one airline, but they might have a database-sharing deal amongst them that’s presented to the user in TOS saying that it is a “cost-saving, fraud prevention program”. What if different carriers of different kinds of transportation start sharing the same database and synchronize in minutes? You might show up at the airport, get denied boarding for your flight for a reason you know how to fix, but then your Uber app denies you a ride because your face now matches their updated passenger blacklist database? Yes, these last two examples are contrived, but the technology is clearly there to hook it all up. Do we now need a to visit the local police station or some kind of PII credit bureau just to ensure that our record is clean and our identity has not been stolen? The EU government is already combining the biometric databases of its member states as seen here [0], so this sharing is starting to take place more openly. [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19717808 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19717808
- bayesian_horse 8y ago
  Again: You need to be able to hold companies and governments accountable. If you can't do that, then tracking technology is the least of your worries. If Apple is violating the law, you can sue them. If the Chinese government tracks your movements, well, that's probably the least of your problems with the Chinese government...