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The machines use the charitably named "demographic sensor" which is obviously the embedded camera linked to a "facial recognition" application, BUT, it doesn't
by disillusioned 3y ago
The machines use the charitably named "demographic sensor" which is obviously the embedded camera linked to a "facial recognition" application, BUT, it doesn't appear that it actually recognizes (or records) faces. Meaning, it's not linking your face to any online identity, or recording your face at all. In fact, the company is European and claims that their entire platform is GDPR compliant, which is... probably true?
Rather, it throws out a series of guesses and confidence values of a person's age, gender, and race, and allow the planogram (and OOH advertising) to change dynamically based on that information.
Which is not necessarily great, but also an entire order of magnitude less invasive than every interaction any casual user has on the internet with any ad ever. Or, frankly, with any POS system recording a repeat purchase from your credit card, from which motivated vendors can back into the rest of the demographic data.
I'm not excusing it, but while the error reads "facial recognition", it's more "stereotyping enablement platform," which, while only marginally better, is probably still better.
It's also hilarious to think of the thing displaying the green M&M if you're a "probable" woman, and the red or yellow M&M if you're a "probable" man, and seeing how long it'd take for anyone to correlate the change.
- rwmj 3y agoThat's what the company claims, and maybe it's right, but how do we know? Do we have access to the source code? Will it change in future? You can be absolutely sure that if the company thought they could make more money by storing the photographs or somehow associating them with real identities then they would.
- tdudhhu 3y agoIt is invasive. In theory they can do something like "Why do you look so sad? Maybe a Mars can cheer you up!". This can be done while being GDPR complient but people don't like that. It creates a feeling that everything is watching you. Privacy is not about hiding things, it is about controlling what you want to show.
- rob74 3y ago"You don't look like yourself today... have a Snickers!"
- sleepingreset 3y agomaybe I'm weird. I put small pieces of blue tape over all of the cameras in my dorm's vending machines for this reason, too.
- reaperman 3y agoKind of surprised people haven't started putting a piece of tape over it, then coming back 8 hours later with a small drill and drilling through the now-blacked-out camera lens to permanently disable it in their living areas.
- pimlottc 3y ago"Feeling good? Celebrate with a Mars bar!"
- ImHereToVote 3y agoI can't wait for the shitstorm when it starts suggesting grape soda to POC.
- southernplaces7 3y agoWhat's a POC? And why would pushing grape soda at them cause a shitstorm?
- disillusioned 3y agoPerson of color. Because of the implication.
- hnbad 3y agoHonestly, as a European some American racist tropes are truly baffling to me. Stereotypically Black people apparently enjoy watermelons, deep fried chicken and grape soda. In other words Black people allegedly like food humans often like and Americans managed to take than and make it racist. I'm not saying it's not used as a racist trope. I'm saying it's amazing how Americans managed to be racist enough to make such a non-issue racist.
- drekipus 3y agoEngagement metrics effects on a corporate society
- narag 3y agoStereotypically Black people apparently enjoy watermelons, deep fried chicken and grape soda. Check, check, check. Yum! TIL that I could pass for black in America. OK, maybe not. Unfortunately grape soda is almost impossible to find in Madrid, I've only tried it a couple of times, first in Rota Base, and loved it.
- giraffe_lady 3y agoMy experience has been that european cultures are approximately as racist as the US, they just have different histories and dynamics so it comes out differently. There is a lot less visible reckoning with race as well, which makes it easier to assume or pretend that there are no problems with it.
- oniony 3y agoIt's not a camera, it's an optical sensor, lol.
- codethief 3y ago> In fact, the company is European and claims that their entire platform is GDPR compliant, which is... probably true? I don't see how it is. The mere processing of my personal information (age, gender, race – doesn't matter that it's only a guess/estimate) without my explicit consent or any contractual need should already represent a violation of GDPR.
- maxcoder4 3y agoAs far as I understand it's not, because GDPR concerns itself with personally identifiable data and "age/gender/race" is not identifiable in general (in context of a vending machine in a large city).
- codethief 3y agoCorrelate this with the date and location of the vending machine and it's not so clear anymore. GDPR is also concerned with data that could potentially be used to identify you.
- mateo1 3y agoHonestly the whole thing would be funny if it's wasn't part of the dystopian society we're building. Is this... innovation now? What are we trying to optimize society for? Extracting maximum rents? But were will the money come from if everyone is doing the same thing and producing nothing of value?
- mrighele 3y ago> In fact, the company is European and claims that their entire platform is GDPR compliant, which is... probably true? Is a picture of my face necessary to sell me a chocolate bar ? I would say not, and if they take it without asking consent before I would say that it is not GDPR compliant.