3 ms·

I don’t get why people want to ban facial recognition. There shouldn’t be an expectation of privacy in public spaces. And facial recognition is simply making a

I don’t get why people want to ban facial recognition. There shouldn’t be an expectation of privacy in public spaces. And facial recognition is simply making a manual task police need to do a lot cheaper, helping them identify suspects who break the law. At least in the US, west coast cities definitely need greater surveillance of public spaces, with facial recognition (and other such tech), if they want to deal with the contagion of large raids on stores which began in SF and now has spread to LA. I feel like we can use this tech with some very simple controls like requiring reasonable suspicion of a crime, and keeping a human in the loop to verify matches, and make the best of this technology to help society. The group processing facial recognition matches can even be separate from the police force, essentially providing tips to police dispatch when they find a likely match.

mekal 5y ago
"There shouldn’t be an expectation of privacy in public spaces." Perhaps not to some degree, but facial recognition takes it up a notch. And ultimately what we should or shouldn't expect is up to us right? Suppose someone found a way to passively and remotely read people's minds. And as a result you can't go anywhere in public unless you were OK with your thoughts being captured and recorded. You could see how that would suck right? And the potential for abuse? Might be great for the police I suppose, and would probably lower the crime rate. But would you want to live like that? Facial recognition isn't that extreme of course, but they are both in the privacy ball park, at least in my opinion. So maybe its just a matter of degree...like what you're willing to put up with / feel comfortable with.
- charcircuit 5y ago
  It wouldn't suck. Nothing would change for you. The impact to the average person's life would be 0.
- shapefrog 5y ago
  > Suppose someone found a way to passively and remotely read people's minds Can a trained chimp do that now? No. Can a trained chimp recognise a face. Yes. Computer facial recognition is simply digitising human workflow, like converting a speech to text. I assume people also have a similar problem with electronic transcription or 'word recognition technology'. Scanning peoples brains and reading their thoughts is literal mind reading science fiction.
  - mekal 5y ago
    It is science fiction right now, but who knows in say, 30 years. My point is, if it did become a reality, I assume you would be against it right? What would be your reason? Because a chimp can't be trained to do it? That seems kinda arbitrary to me. "Computer facial recognition is simply digitising human workflow" I get that, but that one simple change comes with a tremendous increase in power and responsibility. And I'm not convinced the pros outweigh the cons. Maybe if there was an "opt-in" clause then I'd be a little less concerned. Like "If you want the government to keep an eye on you and a record of everywhere you go, sign here."
hnteratio 5y ago
This is a proposition to ban mass facial recognition, not all forms of facial recognition. There are no reason that laws should authorise mass automated face recognition without a judge approval and/or without any crime being committed on the footage. As far as I know nothing proposed here would prevent facial recognition in case-by-case crime situations like you suggest.

mekal 5y ago

"There shouldn’t be an expectation of privacy in public spaces." Perhaps not to some degree, but facial recognition takes it up a notch. And ultimately what we should or shouldn't expect is up to us right? Suppose someone found a way to passively and remotely read people's minds. And as a result you can't go anywhere in public unless you were OK with your thoughts being captured and recorded. You could see how that would suck right? And the potential for abuse? Might be great for the police I suppose, and would probably lower the crime rate. But would you want to live like that? Facial recognition isn't that extreme of course, but they are both in the privacy ball park, at least in my opinion. So maybe its just a matter of degree...like what you're willing to put up with / feel comfortable with.

charcircuit 5y ago
It wouldn't suck. Nothing would change for you. The impact to the average person's life would be 0.
shapefrog 5y ago
> Suppose someone found a way to passively and remotely read people's minds Can a trained chimp do that now? No. Can a trained chimp recognise a face. Yes. Computer facial recognition is simply digitising human workflow, like converting a speech to text. I assume people also have a similar problem with electronic transcription or 'word recognition technology'. Scanning peoples brains and reading their thoughts is literal mind reading science fiction.
- mekal 5y ago
  It is science fiction right now, but who knows in say, 30 years. My point is, if it did become a reality, I assume you would be against it right? What would be your reason? Because a chimp can't be trained to do it? That seems kinda arbitrary to me. "Computer facial recognition is simply digitising human workflow" I get that, but that one simple change comes with a tremendous increase in power and responsibility. And I'm not convinced the pros outweigh the cons. Maybe if there was an "opt-in" clause then I'd be a little less concerned. Like "If you want the government to keep an eye on you and a record of everywhere you go, sign here."

hnteratio 5y ago

This is a proposition to ban mass facial recognition, not all forms of facial recognition. There are no reason that laws should authorise mass automated face recognition without a judge approval and/or without any crime being committed on the footage. As far as I know nothing proposed here would prevent facial recognition in case-by-case crime situations like you suggest.