[HN Gopher] Facial recognition technology: How to opt out at the...
       ___________________________________________________________________
        
       Facial recognition technology: How to opt out at the airport
        
       Author : walterbell
       Score  : 94 points
       Date   : 2021-09-11 08:35 UTC (14 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.cntraveler.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.cntraveler.com)
        
       | mbg721 wrote:
       | You could obscure your face and wear special contact lenses, and
       | then you'd be instantly recognizable as "that guy whose license
       | plate is all I's and ones".
        
       | kylegordon wrote:
       | How to Opt Out (of voluntarily Facial Recognition) at the Airport
        
         | beckman466 wrote:
         | Yes... because they take their time to sit down and explain
         | that to each person, right? /s
        
       | macawfish wrote:
       | Face recognition is one thing. Device free localization and
       | identification by spectral/topological analysis of mm-wave
       | antenna array data is even more invasive.
       | 
       | Hint: I'm talking about 5G and its big surveillance application,
       | an open secret.
        
         | minton wrote:
         | Did you mean device-free? Are you saying 5G can track and
         | identify people without using their phones?
        
           | White_Wolf wrote:
           | I don't remember all the details for sure sure but I read
           | some research a while back about using some form of radar
           | "thing" to identify people using a details like gait, ear
           | shape and size, neck length and shape, upper back shape and
           | width, arm length and a few other things that I really can't
           | remember. I think gait was the main factor along with height
           | and then rest were used as filters.
           | 
           | Edit: Forgot to mention this was pretty crude 10 years ago.
           | I'm assuming op is talking about a practical application for
           | something similar.
        
       | aiisjustanif wrote:
       | This leads to the an even bigger question. Will kids be able to
       | opt-out in schools? [1][2] [1]:
       | https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/safer-management
       | 
       | [2]: https://www.safermgmt.com/
        
       | elmalto wrote:
       | Global entry / TSA-Precheck only required my face when I entered
       | the the US last month (LGA airport). While I have gotten used to
       | having my picture taken at US airports, it was a weird yet
       | incredibly fast experience
        
       | mlindner wrote:
       | I've never used facial recognition in the US and I never will. If
       | they start requiring it for certain places/method of travel then
       | I'll no longer use them.
        
       | deepsun wrote:
       | What's the difference if in order to fly an airliner you already
       | have surrendered your ID?
        
         | latortuga wrote:
         | Because people lie and when they say "we don't store" they
         | really actually do. It's the difference between checking a
         | single ID photo at a time and having a database full of photos
         | every time you submit to it.
         | 
         | A lot of defeatism in this thread but I for one will opt out,
         | just like the body scanners.
        
         | caymanjim wrote:
         | Exactly. This is a giant nothingburger. You can't get through a
         | gate at the airport without showing government-issued ID, by
         | which point they know exactly who you are, and every detail
         | about your life. What exactly are you opting out of? You're
         | still being recorded by dozens--if not hundreds--of TSA/airport
         | security cameras every step of the way, and even if there isn't
         | software automatically identifying and tagging you, it would be
         | trivial to determine who you are. You're on camera when you
         | arrive at the airport, you're on camera when you check in,
         | you're on camera when you go through security, walk to the
         | gate, and board the plane. It's unlikely a single second of
         | your activity in the airport is off-camera (bathrooms
         | notwithstanding).
         | 
         | I don't like the surveillance state, in particular the ubiquity
         | of cameras in public open spaces where there's no compelling
         | reason. I don't like the networks of private cameras people
         | have attached to their front doors, all fed to Amazon and
         | Google (and the state, most likely). If we're going to have
         | cameras anywhere, though, the airport is the place I have the
         | least problem with.
         | 
         | We're way past opting out, whatever that even means in this
         | scenario.
        
           | moron4hire wrote:
           | There's a flip side to this "nothingburger" argument. If it
           | isn't such a big deal/difference over the status quo, then
           | why do the airlines want it?
           | 
           | You say, "I don't like the surveillance state, in particular
           | the ubiquity of cameras in public open spaces where there's
           | _no compelling reason_. " You are assuming there is no
           | compelling reason because you do not personally know what
           | that reason may be. Someone, somewhere, thought they had a
           | compelling reason to go through the expense and hassle of
           | developing and installing the surveillance system. It wasn't
           | just "IDK, it's kinda neat".
           | 
           | It's clear from the gaping, empty space between our
           | understanding of these systems and the desire of institutions
           | to have them that something must be filling it. Whatever that
           | "it" is should not be hidden from the public and communicated
           | _clearly_ , and not just hidden in a TOS-like document locked
           | in a room with a tiger in the basement.
        
             | landemva wrote:
             | Airlines want ID check to stop the mileage points resale
             | trade. TSA are the airlines' frequent flier (free tickets
             | to Hawaii) mall guards.
        
             | tpc3 wrote:
             | I suspect it's the combination of the defensive medicine
             | effect (if something does go wrong, no one wants to be the
             | one to take responsibility for having said no to a system
             | that someone else will argue (true or not) that that system
             | could have stopped the event), the belief that the security
             | theater aspect makes customers feel safer, the belief that
             | more data and whiz-bang technology is always better, and
             | the decision makers don't have the technical expertise to
             | understand that it is not getting them much in terms of
             | increased security, and they can always make some money on
             | the side by selling the data that they collect.
        
           | landemva wrote:
           | Not quite true about ID being required to get to gate. In
           | USA, under 18 are waived through without ID. Over 18, I have
           | gone through without ID. Be polite, say you misplaced it, and
           | they will make you sign a form. Then on your way.
           | 
           | Most of the airport security theater is voluntary. Full body
           | scans are also voluntary. Most soy boiz are too lazy to opt
           | out.
        
             | [deleted]
        
             | mixmastamyk wrote:
             | What about the real id reqs?
        
           | pabl8k wrote:
           | It's not a nothingburger. An ID card has biometric
           | information from years ago. Correlating a photo match with a
           | ticket at gate check in gives confirmation for updating the
           | stored id-face model, which means the recency and fidelity of
           | the biometric data stored by e.g. the airlines or CBP is
           | higher than that from the ID card.
           | 
           | Random surveillance video in an airport probably can't be
           | used to update records because you have lower confidence of a
           | match absent the other known factor that confirms ID.
           | Moreover, masks/face covering is a norm that will also help
           | subvert ambient face ID and model updating.
           | 
           | The data won't stay in the airport--the updated id-face model
           | will be used in places where we expect or should expect more
           | privacy of identity.
           | 
           | We as a society could decide to limit the legality of this.
           | As individuals we can opt out and likely make a small but
           | meaningful difference in the recency and fidelity of our
           | collected and shared biometric data.
        
         | patrick451 wrote:
         | Why should we have to show ID in order to board an airplane?
         | Frankly, that's none of the governments business. It's a
         | tyrannical, invasive policy that should be reversed. Instead of
         | doubling down on more of the same big brother overreach, why
         | not fight it?
        
           | nerdponx wrote:
           | ID makes sense for a variety of reasons, but "proof of
           | citizenship" certainly does not, which will be required in
           | the next few years.
        
       | baby-yoda wrote:
       | had my first experience with this a couple months ago at the
       | gate, had no idea it was even a thing. it probably did improve
       | boarding time for the entire plane (A350 transatlantic, 300ish
       | passengers) but after understanding how the tech works I'm more
       | impressed with how quickly the scan is validated against the CBP
       | database - literally a second or so.
        
       | lucb1e wrote:
       | > Facial recognition technology: How to opt out at the airport
       | 
       | in the US*
       | 
       | I thought this might be some China thing since the domain is
       | cntraveler, or indeed a US thing since it seems also in line with
       | both HN and the kind of stuff US airports do, but the title isn't
       | quite clear so one has to click...
        
       | Animats wrote:
       | People can recognize you with face recognition. Cops spend time
       | looking at picture books of wanted people. Store clerks remember
       | customers. Vegas casinos hire people with unusually good face
       | recognition skills.
       | 
       | We're looking at the wrong end of the problem. We need to limit
       | what consequences can come from being recognized. Like an "you
       | can only be hassled once a year" policy for cops.
       | 
       | Meanwhile, watch the Hikvision Corporate Channel and get over
       | it.[1]
       | 
       | [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3trCnFdh6i8
        
         | tzs wrote:
         | > We're looking at the wrong end of the problem. We need to
         | limit what consequences can come from being recognized. Like an
         | "you can only be hassled once a year" policy for cops.
         | 
         | In some of Asimov's science fiction mystery short stories there
         | was something like this [1]. Police had technology called a
         | "psycho-probe" that could essentially read your mind, with a
         | slight risk that doing so would cause permanent severe brain
         | damage. Because of this risk the law was that a person could
         | only be probed once.
         | 
         | That had some interesting consequences.
         | 
         | First, if someone who had never been probed was tried for a
         | serious crime juries were reluctant to convict.
         | 
         | Second, a lot of criminals tried to get charged with crimes
         | serious enough to get probed. Confess to a crime you didn't do
         | in hopes of getting probed, cleared, and gaining immunity from
         | probing for any future crimes you do. Even if you actually have
         | to do a serious crime to get probed, it could be worth it to do
         | so and serve your time to get that immunity for when you resume
         | your criminal career when you get out.
         | 
         | [1] Definitely in at least one of the "Wendell Urth" mysteries
         | collected in "Asimov's Mysteries" [2]. I'm sure probing is a
         | big part of "The Singing Bell" and I think it was at least
         | mentioned in "The Dying Night".
         | 
         | [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asimov%27s_Mysteries
        
         | oramit wrote:
         | This has been my recent thinking on this as well. I wish we
         | didn't have ubiquitous surveillance and I wish there was a way
         | to stop it from expanding even more but that's not the world we
         | live in. Privacy advocates who think they can stop this at the
         | technology level are fooling themselves. The ship has already
         | sailed.
         | 
         | What's left is to create a culture where the abuse of
         | surveillance is heavily stigmatized. There are a lot of laws
         | that could be passed to minimize the time that data is stored
         | and how it is shared. The government is the only entity with
         | the power to make rules to stop this, and the government is the
         | entity that controls the spy agencies (who are the most
         | frightening abusers of surveillance power) and could reign them
         | in. But privacy advocates are almost always maximally skeptical
         | of government power so they reject out of hand to work "in the
         | system" as it were, to make changes.
        
       | andfer29 wrote:
       | Sorry, this may be a silly question, but what are some ways to
       | explain why this may be bad to someone? I personally don't care
       | if an airport or a mall know who I am and track me so trying to
       | understand why it's not great.
        
         | mixmastamyk wrote:
         | Information is power. Giving it away puts you at a
         | disadvantage. History has shown that government and business
         | will often use their power for evil. Need examples? Read the
         | Bill of Rights and then the reasons they were written.
        
       | zahma wrote:
       | I saw face-scan boarding an international flight at Atlanta last
       | year. The reps for Delta did make it clear we could opt out by
       | saying so, which meant them having to swipe my boarding pass.
       | What was shocking is how few people bothered to question the
       | system. Perhaps I am naive, but I trust CBP a lot more with my
       | image than Delta. Maybe I shouldn't trust either, but airlines
       | seem to have gotten into the business of security. I do not trust
       | them to keep their meandering and profiteering ways siloed off
       | from passenger security systems.
        
       | mcculley wrote:
       | Ubiquitous facial recognition is inevitable. Governments that are
       | prohibited by law from tracking faces and locations/times will
       | just buy it from private companies, like has happened with
       | automated license plate readers on tow trucks.
       | 
       | It is pointless to argue about legislation at this point. We have
       | to assume governments and corporations will have this data. The
       | only mitigation is to limit the overall power of governments and
       | corporations.
        
         | colechristensen wrote:
         | It really isn't pointless. Building, selling, or possessing
         | facial recognition products or data obtained could easily be
         | made illegal or extremely restricted.
         | 
         | We need to build an expectation of public privacy concept where
         | everyone has the right to go about their public lives with only
         | human levels of tracking, recognition, and memories. That is
         | being seen and remembered a short while is acceptable, having
         | every move recorded and attributed to me is not.
        
           | mcculley wrote:
           | How could it easily be restricted? As long as people or
           | corporations are allowed to sell timestamped, geostamped
           | photos and videos, the aggregation can be done.
        
             | only_as_i_fall wrote:
             | Many states have two party consent laws that make it
             | illegal to record private conversations without consent
             | even in a public place. I fail to see how the same thing
             | couldn't be done with video.
             | 
             | Of course finding the political will to restrict things
             | like security cameras is a different matter, but I don't
             | think it'd it'd case that we couldn't write effective laws
             | to prevent this.
        
               | mcculley wrote:
               | As I wrote, we are already seeing this. Tow truck
               | companies sell ALPR data to aggregators. Ring and Amazon
               | are collecting security camera data. Please explain what
               | legislation you would propose.
        
             | rt4mn wrote:
             | Just because something can be technically done does not
             | mean that we cant impose restrictions that make it to
             | costly to use except in the most constrained and extreme
             | circumstances.
             | 
             | This is an oversimplification of a complicated story, but a
             | great example is when the NSA stopped doing mass phone /
             | text analysis because of the additional regulatory burdens
             | imposed by the USA Freedom Act. The NSA contends that the
             | data is still useful, but also that the difficulties of
             | complying with the law make it not worth it.
        
               | mcculley wrote:
               | I am not understanding how you get to possible
               | restrictions.
               | 
               | How could I, as a private citizen or owner of a property
               | be prevented from selling photos/videos with timestamps
               | and geostamps?
               | 
               | How could a company be prevented from buying and
               | aggregating that data (even in other jurisdictions)?
               | 
               | How could an end user be prevented from buying aggregated
               | data as the cost plummets?
               | 
               | Do you really think the NSA is not buying all available
               | data sets?
        
               | pope_meat wrote:
               | Probably the same way you're prevented from selling CP,
               | and fully automatic fire arms out of your home? It won't
               | stop it 100%, but it certainly has an effect.
        
               | mcculley wrote:
               | Would you eliminate sales of Internet-connected security
               | cameras? Or just the sale of the data they collect? I am
               | trying to understand how you think this is a genie that
               | can be rebottled.
        
               | mLuby wrote:
               | Banning individual product classes is a sure-fire way to
               | keep regulators forever playing catch-up with industry.
               | 
               | Most ideal: make personal data a massive business
               | liability, such that _personal data is rarely even
               | collected,_ let alone stored. This is _much_ more
               | possible than people believe (even making exceptions for
               | current regulations like KYC). Does the local pizza place
               | need to know anything more than my order, where to
               | deliver it, and that the money arrived in their
               | account?++ Does a hotel or airline need anything other
               | than a confirmation code to hand over the room key or
               | seat? And yes, this may kill off or force pivots from
               | businesses that exist today solely to spy on us--that 's
               | the point!
               | 
               | Only okay: personal data isn't shared or sold to third
               | parties. Businesses can collect data on their own users,
               | but it can't leak beyond the corp firewall or else big
               | penalties come into play. Only okay because leaks are
               | almost mathematically inevitable, so there will be
               | constant lobby pressure to relax regulations, or
               | enforcement thereof.
               | 
               | Not good: personal data can be collected, retained, and
               | sold by basically all companies, and the penalties for
               | unintentionally disclosing those data are just slaps on
               | the wrist. At least it can't get much worse though,
               | right? Right??
               | 
               |  _Businesses will adapt to any set of regulations--it 's
               | up to us citizens to demand the laws we want._
               | 
               | ++But what about remembering your favorite orders, or
               | saving customers time by not entering their info for each
               | new order? One options is to let them bookmark the page,
               | so their device can get back to it easily.
        
               | mcculley wrote:
               | I am not arguing for any laws. I am saying that I don't
               | see how any legislation will stop this technology from
               | being used to identify and track people.
               | 
               | We saw how eager people were to install Google Analytics
               | on their websites. They don't care what they do to their
               | users.
        
               | pope_meat wrote:
               | It's worth trying to get at least some of the genie back
               | in the bottle. The laws against CP and automatic fire
               | arms aren't 100% effective either, but that doesn't mean
               | we abandon the idea of trying to regulate the activity
               | completely, does it?
        
               | mcculley wrote:
               | I am not arguing it would not be worthwhile to try. I
               | argued that this data being collected and aggregated is
               | inevitable. I still have not read a convincing reply
               | otherwise. The ALPR data market is a perfect example of
               | where we are heading.
        
               | rhn_mk1 wrote:
               | The problem of preventing the transfer of uncomfortable
               | data has already been tackled by copyright.
        
               | mcculley wrote:
               | Please elaborate. There are many markets for buying and
               | selling photos and other data.
        
               | acover wrote:
               | How can you be prevented from murder? How was private
               | ownership of gold illegal for decades? How was a farmer
               | growing hay to feed their own horses illegal?
               | 
               | The government has pretty wide reaching powers.
        
               | mcculley wrote:
               | I still have not heard a realistic way these capabilities
               | would be limited. Ordinary consumers and corporations
               | will have this technology. It will continue to get
               | cheaper. How would governments not have it?
               | 
               | The same people who sold browsing data to advertisers
               | have this technology.
        
               | matheusmoreira wrote:
               | NSA cares about laws?
        
             | colechristensen wrote:
             | Write data privacy laws which apply to surveillance cameras
             | which require commercial entities to disclose what
             | information is being collected, how it is being shared with
             | provisions banning certain kinds of collecting, sharing,
             | and storage with regulatory fines, criminal penalties, and
             | provisions enabling class action lawsuits for misuse or
             | other banned disclosures.
        
               | mcculley wrote:
               | Disclosure is insufficient to prevent aggregation. The
               | same kind of people who sold browsing data to advertisers
               | are selling this data. If you do not want to be tracked,
               | you have to get those around you to not provide the data.
        
               | colechristensen wrote:
               | That would be why i listed many things more than
               | disclosure.
        
               | mcculley wrote:
               | I misunderstood. Would you eliminate Facebook and the
               | existing ALPR data aggregators? I am wondering how such
               | restrictions would be possible.
        
               | colechristensen wrote:
               | You would come up with a decent legal definition of a
               | surveillance camera with a distinction from a person
               | taking pictures. You would add disclosure provisions, if
               | an observed person could reasonably be expected to see
               | and make a choice (say entering a business) there would
               | be one set of rules, when a person couldn't see a notice
               | or make a choice (say a camera on a vehicle) there would
               | be much more restrictive rules.
               | 
               | You would make it a crime to violate the rules but
               | administered like and possible to sue in civil court for
               | victims. The crime would be on the owner/operator of the
               | camera and special provisions would be added for storage
               | providers.
        
           | MeinBlutIstBlau wrote:
           | >could easily be made illegal or extremely restricted.
           | 
           | What bunker do you live in?
        
             | colechristensen wrote:
             | This is an inappropriate comment for HN.
        
         | humanistbot wrote:
         | > Governments that are prohibited by law from tracking faces
         | and locations/times will just buy it from private companies,
         | like has happened with automated license plate readers on tow
         | trucks.
         | 
         | Because of this, the current battles that many anti-
         | surveillance activists are fighting is in procurement and
         | vendor/contractor policies, mostly at the city and county
         | levels. Lots of West Coast cities and counties (Santa Clara,
         | Oakland, Seattle, San Diego) have enacted all kinds of new
         | bureaucratic hurdles on any public funds used to pay for
         | surveillance. These include requiring RFPs with open
         | competitive bidding, public hearings, testing and certification
         | that it actually works with an acceptable false positive rate,
         | and approval in a public vote by the city/county council.
         | 
         | The Nation has a good overview of this shift in tactics, which
         | is also opposed by some progressives who take a more
         | abolitionist stance to surveillance and say that they don't
         | want it to be legitimized if it passes all the bureaucratic
         | hurtles: https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/mass-
         | surveillance-...
        
           | mcculley wrote:
           | I respect the intent behind these efforts. I just don't see
           | how they will prevent ubiquitous surveillance.
           | 
           | Imagine this possible near future: Many property owners have
           | installed smart doorbells and security systems with cameras.
           | The data is being fed into aggregation systems and sold, just
           | like clicks today. I can subscribe to an app on my phone for
           | a few dollars a month (below the limit required to get formal
           | approval in most organizations) that shows me where a face
           | has been seen.
           | 
           | How will this not happen?
        
             | 542458 wrote:
             | I don't see why we couldn't pass a law that says that the
             | government can't use $technology_x, and that this applies
             | to government contractors and services purchased by the
             | government or used by government employees acting in their
             | professional capacity.
        
               | mcculley wrote:
               | What technology would you prohibit?
               | 
               | If a police officer can look up a suspect on Facebook,
               | why couldn't he use one of many other services that are
               | aggregating data?
        
               | only_as_i_fall wrote:
               | Your attitude on this doesn't make any sense to me.
               | 
               | A single man can record videos yes, but they can't record
               | millions of videos and aggregate them into a searchable
               | database. For that you need larger groups of people and a
               | significant amount of infrastructure. You could
               | absolutely limit the ability to do this without having to
               | outlaw cameras or social media or anything like that.
               | 
               | Are you making some blanket assumption that laws can't
               | have an impact on private businesses? Because that's
               | clearly not true.
        
               | mcculley wrote:
               | No, I am not making a blanket assumption that we cannot
               | have laws. I don't see how we can make collection and
               | aggregation of data illegal, at least in the United
               | States. Maybe it is possible in more authoritarian
               | cultures, but those are the ones who will use it the
               | most.
               | 
               | Databases of aggregated ALPR data exist and have economic
               | value. Facebook exists and aggregates data. Can you
               | elaborate on what kind of law you think should exist to
               | prevent that?
        
               | 542458 wrote:
               | I mean, you could ban "systems who's primary purpose is
               | to aggregate personal data on non-criminals" (please
               | don't nitpick the phrasing, I'm obviously not a lawyer)
               | or something similar. I'm not sure why people are acting
               | like this is an unsolvable problem - patent lawyers can
               | write descriptions of fairly vague technological systems
               | that hold up in court.
        
               | mcculley wrote:
               | I am genuinely interested how this can be prevented. I
               | don't see how it can. We are not far away from people
               | having eyeglasses that are able to upload photos and
               | download aggregated data. Everyone in your field of
               | vision will have a dossier. It won't just be governments
               | using this. It won't require some prior written
               | permission. The same people that sold browsing data to
               | advertisers will have this technology.
        
               | landemva wrote:
               | Remove the funding.
        
               | mcculley wrote:
               | Please elaborate. What funding? Every cop can buy a
               | smartphone.
        
               | landemva wrote:
               | Reduce your contributions to government. This thread is
               | about government.
               | 
               | Anyone can personally purchase whatever they desire.
        
               | mcculley wrote:
               | That is exactly what I wrote. Any government
               | official/employee will be able to use this technology. If
               | you are proposing some kind of libertarian non-
               | government, that would be consistent with my original
               | statement that the only way to limit this is to limit
               | government.
        
               | 542458 wrote:
               | Every school teacher can buy a baseball bat, but we don't
               | act like it's a given that teachers will beat students
               | with baseball bats.
        
               | mcculley wrote:
               | I don't see how that explains a way to prevent anyone
               | from using facial recognition technology.
        
         | inspector-g wrote:
         | > like has happened with automated license plate readers on tow
         | trucks.
         | 
         | Do you have any good links that provide more info on this?
        
           | mcculley wrote:
           | https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/license-plate-data-not-
           | ju...
           | 
           | https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20190918/14224343020/priva.
           | ..
        
         | alexashka wrote:
         | > The only mitigation is to limit the overall power of
         | governments and corporations.
         | 
         | Why is this the _only_ mitigation?
         | 
         | By the way, _who_ is going to limit the overall power and _who_
         | is going to limit the power of those limiting the power and
         | _why_? :)
         | 
         | At the end of the day it's people making decisions. The best
         | way to have them making better decisions, is having more of
         | them having a view of the world that reflects reality.
         | 
         | More reality, less bullshit -> better outcomes. Pretty simple.
        
           | mcculley wrote:
           | I don't think anyone will successfully limit these systems.
           | That is why it is inevitable.
        
       | JohnFen wrote:
       | At this point, there's only one way that I can see to opt out of
       | this nonsense. Don't fly.
       | 
       | I've been fortunate in being able to avoid flying for years now.
        
       | avipars wrote:
       | Doesn't this just make you more of a target for them?
        
       | asah wrote:
       | Enemy of the State (1998, Will Smith):
       | 
       | https://www.google.com/search?gs_ssp=eJzj4tTP1TcwNirOiTdg9BJ...
        
       | paulpauper wrote:
       | If you bought a ticket it is already too late. This will do
       | nothing. Take a cab or greyhound instead if privacy is paramint.
        
       | da_big_ghey wrote:
       | It is already too late, first it is opt in, then it is opt out,
       | then it is compulsory. This will happen if we let it have any use
       | at all. Write your congressman now if you have a desire for this
       | not to come to pass.
        
       | ekianjo wrote:
       | > The only snag is for non-U.S. citizens.
       | 
       | As always
        
         | vinay427 wrote:
         | To be fair, there was previously no systematic exit control
         | process in US airports unlike in many countries including the
         | Schengen area bloc, and many other countries have also long
         | required photographs of non-citizens/non-residents along with
         | exit controls. The US is more in line with the UK, Canada, etc.
         | approach that doesn't allow any way of way of definitively
         | knowing whether someone on a visa or restricted permit actually
         | left the country if they were supposed to.
         | 
         | While I would have preferred a non-biometric approach for
         | everyone, I'm hoping that moving some of the burden to exit
         | control 1. lessens the workload of immigration enforcement
         | domestically, and 2. encourages a very slow transition towards
         | more seamless international transfers given that US airports
         | usually weren't built for this, although a lot more work would
         | be needed here.
        
           | refurb wrote:
           | My understanding is the that airline passenger lists are the
           | equivalent exit "check" for the US and Canada. They are
           | shared freely between the two countries as are entry checks
           | into respective countries (hence the US or Canada can confirm
           | an exit based on entry to the neighboring country).
           | 
           | That said, I think it's mostly just "we can check if needed"
           | and it's not matched up automatically though that might have
           | changed? I know if you're an immigrant and you check your
           | I-94 record with USCIS is usually wrong and missing data.
        
           | sneak wrote:
           | To be fair, the concept of passports (in the modern sense of
           | a document required to cross a national border) is a
           | relatively modern invention, on the close order of only about
           | a hundred years.
        
       | yardstick wrote:
       | Tangentially related, I wonder what happens if you wear a shirt
       | that has a benign picture that matches a CSAM hash? Will everyone
       | who takes a picture of you end up getting flagged by detection
       | algorithms? I'm thinking in a similar vein to the magic DVD AACS
       | number people printed on T-shirts mugs etc.
       | 
       | Will this become a great way for camera shy people to pollute any
       | paparazzi shots of them?
        
         | eptcyka wrote:
         | This isn't related to the story at all. CSAM doesn't hash parts
         | of a picture, so your shirt would only trigger it if somebody
         | took a photo of just the shirt at a right angle.
        
           | yardstick wrote:
           | Hence me going on a tangent :) So the solution for abusers is
           | to just layer their photos inside subsections of normal
           | photos to work around CASM?
           | 
           | Anyway was just a thought experiment on how to automatically
           | opt out while "sticking it to the man", so to speak. Maybe I
           | should look into EUrion constellation marks instead!
           | 
           | https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/EURion_constellation
        
       | giuliomagnifico wrote:
       | Maybe you can at the boarding gate and in some other points but
       | when you get out of the fly/plane and you enter in the airport,
       | there's a(t least one) camera above your head and you can't walk
       | in other directions. Maybe you have to wear hat, sunglasses and a
       | mask...
       | 
       | Others critical points are at the temperature scanning at the
       | entrance and at the passport check. I don't think you can avoid
       | those.
        
         | andai wrote:
         | Do they use some fancy thermal cameras to check for fever?
        
           | brk wrote:
           | Thermal cameras absolutely suck for body temperature
           | measurement. Those fever cameras are all security theater
           | garbage.
        
           | giuliomagnifico wrote:
           | Yes, due to Covid-19.
        
       | bm3719 wrote:
       | The facial recognition battle is lost. The only power we have is
       | over how we behave as the losing side.
       | 
       | Of the few options we have, one is normalizing wearing
       | recognition-scrambling makeup/masks. Another would be to get
       | stickers of eyes, brows, and noses, and place them in random
       | places around your face.
       | 
       | It'd be interesting to see some studies of the effectiveness of
       | the different methods.
        
         | 65 wrote:
         | Well, until they ban facial recognition scrambling masks. If
         | the burqa is banned in many European countries I don't see why
         | facial recognition evasion devices don't also get banned.
        
       | throwaway47292 wrote:
       | Sadly, I think we are beyond opt-out with any facial recognition.
       | 
       | I recently showed[1] to my daughter (10) as teaching her python,
       | how easy it is to build some basic facial recognition using
       | modern libraries and models.
       | 
       | I had it running with one of her pictures, and i just asked her
       | to come in front of the computer for a second to check something
       | out, and she was completely shocked when the video put her name
       | below her face, and my name below my face. She was shocked, a bit
       | curious, and a bit revolted.
       | 
       | On the next day when I took her to school, I just showed the
       | amount of cameras on the way, and in the mall. At first she
       | thought that its not an issue, as every camera only sees locally
       | around it, so they cant connect her journey, but then she
       | realised someone can own many cameras.
       | 
       | I think we need to invest much more into adversarial machine
       | learning[2] and possibly form some sort of organization to fund
       | it. (I hope it will be called move-78 as Lee Sedol's hand of god
       | move against alpha go)
       | 
       | [1]: https://github.com/jackdoe/programming-for-
       | kids/blob/master/...
       | 
       | [2]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxbazQ6wJlU
        
         | aiisjustanif wrote:
         | Ironically YCom just just backed this [1] and it is facial
         | recognition in schools [2].
         | 
         | [1]: https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/safer-management
         | 
         | [2]: https://www.safermgmt.com/
        
           | throwaway47292 wrote:
           | hahaha i cant help but to laugh in despair
           | 
           | look what we have built
           | 
           | this is the internet we made
           | 
           | for our children
        
             | JohnFen wrote:
             | Not just the internet. This is the world we have made for
             | our children. It is highly distressing.
        
               | throwaway47292 wrote:
               | I just feel somehow personally responsible for the way
               | things went with the internet and surveillance
               | capitalism.
               | 
               | I remember in early 2000s how I used to download some
               | programs[1] to pay me to watch ads. I didn't pay content
               | creators anything, didnt donate, I didnt have money, but
               | I could've spared some.
               | 
               | I just didn't do anything to stop it.
               | 
               | [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pay_to_surf
        
         | pilingual wrote:
         | > she realised someone can own many cameras
         | 
         | Or that the cameras are insecure, effectively public, and a
         | motivated person or state could do the same.
        
           | throwaway47292 wrote:
           | haha i didnt tell her that yet, she is only 10 :D
        
             | telesilla wrote:
             | It's debatable how effective this is but CV Dazzle may just
             | become a trend for youth. I'd support that but I'd expect
             | to start seeing schools and commercial areas ban such
             | practices.
             | 
             | https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/07/make
             | u...
        
               | analognoise wrote:
               | It's not debatable. It's ineffective.
        
               | telesilla wrote:
               | I saw other reports of people who wear full face scarves
               | or stickers of noses and eyes, are there better
               | techniques that work?
        
               | IG_Semmelweiss wrote:
               | This article was precovid
               | 
               | Covid masking with sunglasses and a cap make someone
               | effectively anonymous.
               | 
               | Masks are a big finger to the NSA.
        
               | throwaway47292 wrote:
               | keep in mind mask alone is not enough
               | 
               | https://github.com/jackdoe/programming-for-
               | kids/blob/master/...
               | 
               | and glasses + mask as well
               | 
               | https://github.com/jackdoe/programming-for-
               | kids/blob/master/...
               | 
               | and this is https://github.com/ageitgey/face_recognition
               | completely out of the box, no tuning or anything, just
               | copy pasted the example
        
               | [deleted]
        
               | Retric wrote:
               | You really need huge sample sets for this stuff to apply
               | in the real world. We started using fingerprints because
               | of how hard it can be to tell people apart.
               | 
               | Start talking 100 million faces + public cameras and it's
               | difficult. Where AI really stands out it having a
               | specific face and looking for that in days of video
               | footage. But, even then you want to train for false
               | positives.
        
               | throwaway47292 wrote:
               | thanks for the link! i immediately tried it
               | https://github.com/jackdoe/programming-for-
               | kids/blob/master/...
               | 
               | its a screenshot of detecting me despite the paint, and i
               | tried whole bunch of colors and etc to trick it that my
               | eyes are not where they are, and it did not work, I think
               | it was easier in 2014, seems you really need to hide your
               | eyes now, and its gonna be quite annoying for bald people
               | like me haha
               | 
               | anyway, i updated the book as well, with the link
               | 
               | thanks!
        
             | sologoub wrote:
             | Pretty incredible for 10 year old to make such projects and
             | to then apply to the world around her! You must be so proud
             | :)
        
               | throwaway47292 wrote:
               | you have no idea :)
        
         | jfk13 wrote:
         | > I think we need to invest much more into adversarial machine
         | learning
         | 
         | That just becomes an ever-escalating arms race. We need to
         | invest in political and social systems that regulate the use of
         | technology, not imagine that we'll overcome the dystopian use
         | of technology by applying yet more technology.
        
           | throwaway47292 wrote:
           | we should do both
           | 
           | as political changes are incredibly slow, in the meantime we
           | need to make it harder to collect
           | 
           | you know very well no data will be deleted, in the modern
           | 'data is money' mode of operation
           | 
           | its not even on purpose, its just hard to delete from
           | petabytes of hadoop garbage
        
           | NotSammyHagar wrote:
           | Don't you people read the classics? Neal Stephenson seems to
           | write books 10 years ahead of time that predict all
           | technologies (crypto, metaverse, etc).
           | 
           | "Reamde" has multiple cool ideas (the miasma, basically our
           | dystopian internet information sphere we live in today), but
           | one of them is people walking down the street with glasses
           | that have some kind of light device that shines on your face
           | to confuse facial recognition.
        
           | matheusmoreira wrote:
           | Why? Every time people make new technology to subvert the
           | government, they must raise their tyranny in order to regain
           | control.
           | 
           | Encryption, for example. It denies the government
           | information, evidence. There's nothing it can do about that.
           | So will it criminalize encryption itself? Will it presume
           | guilt if you refuse to decrypt? Will it ban free computers
           | that run software not signed by the government?
           | 
           | After enough iterations, we'll either end up with an
           | uncontrollable population wielding ubiquitous subversive
           | technology, or an omnipotent totalitarian state that defeats
           | any attempt at subversion before they can develop.
           | 
           | I hope for everyone's sake that the governments will discover
           | their own limits before either outcome.
        
         | sjtindell wrote:
         | Love the name move-78.
        
       ___________________________________________________________________
       (page generated 2021-09-11 23:01 UTC)