facial recognition

National

San Francisco Considers Ban On Government's Use Of Facial Recognition Technology

12:03pm May 14, 2019

by Shannon Van Sant

The city is home to some of the world's largest technology companies, but it may ban the use of facial recognition software by police and city agencies.

A body camera from Taser is seen during a press conference on Sept. 24, 2014 in Washington, DC.

Police Are Investing In New Technology. 'Thin Blue Lie' Asks, 'Does It Work?'

10:24pm April 07, 2019

Technology has often been proposed as the solution to controversial policing practices. But reporter Matt Stroud says new innovations embraced by law enforcement can present their own problems.

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The American Civil Liberties Union says that Amazon Rekognition, facial recognition software sold online, inaccurately identified lawmakers and poses threats to civil rights — charges that Amazon denies.

National

Facial Recognition Software Wrongly Identifies 28 Lawmakers As Crime Suspects

6:42pm July 26, 2018

by Sasha Ingber

The American Civil Liberties Union tested Amazon Rekognition, and found erroneous matches on images of politicians, especially among people of color.

An image from a presentaton by Amazon's Ranju Das shows a demonstration of real-time facial recognition and tracking. Das said the video came from a traffic cam in Orlando, Fla., where police were in a pilot program of Amazon's Rekognition service.

National

Orlando Police End Test Of Amazon's Real-Time Facial 'Rekognition' System

2:13pm June 26, 2018

by Bill Chappell

Orlando's deal to open part of its camera systems to Amazon was reported by NPR in May, after one of the company's executives said the city was a Rekognition customer.

In this video, Amazon's Ranju Das demonstrates real-time facial recognition to an audience. It shows video from a traffic cam that he said was provided by the city of Orlando, where police have been trying the technology out.

National

Orlando Police Testing Amazon's Real-Time Facial Recognition

4:37pm May 22, 2018

by Martin Kaste

American police have been reluctant to use systems that can scan live video for the faces of "persons of interest." Amazon wants to change that with a cheaper, cloud-based version of the technology.

North Korea has been secretly selling facial recognition software, a new report states. This photo shows a German official identified by a computer with an automatic facial recognition system that was not mentioned in the report.

World News

North Korea Is Selling Facial Recognition Technology, Report Finds

8:18pm May 16, 2018

by Sasha Ingber

Researchers at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies say the country has used front companies and intermediaries to market products, sometimes to unwitting consumers.

Clare Garvie of Georgetown Law's Center on Privacy & Technology, caught by a real-time facial recognition system at the Connect ID biometrics conference.

National

Real-Time Facial Recognition Is Available, But Will U.S. Police Buy It?

10:35pm May 10, 2018

by Martin Kaste

Instant facial recognition is ramping up in China and other places, but will U.S. law enforcement follow suit?

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SenseTime's technology is able to identify specific attributes of vehicles and people.

World News

Facial Recognition In China Is Big Business As Local Governments Boost Surveillance

10:41am April 03, 2018

by Rob Schmitz

"The government is pushing the need for this technology from the top, so companies don't have big obstacles in making it happen," says an executive at a major Chinese artificial intelligence company.

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Apple's Philip Schiller unveiled the Face ID feature in September. Less than a week after the iPhone X was released, a Vietnamese security firm said it had cracked Face ID using a specially made mask.

Science

Security Firm Says Extremely Creepy Mask Cracks iPhone X's Face ID

4:58pm November 13, 2017

by Laurel Wamsley

A video shows the Vietnam-based Bkav apparently bypassing the feature. Apple has touted the function as secure since it was unveiled in September.

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Phil Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide marketing, announces features of the new iPhone X on Sept. 12 at the Steve Jobs Theater on the new Apple campus in Cupertino, Calif. The phone's new ability to unlock itself using a scan of its own

iPhone X's Face ID Inspires Privacy Worries — But Convenience May Trump Them

12:28pm September 19, 2017

by Laura Sydell

Advocates are concerned facial scan data could be stolen, or that a successful rollout could make consumers more comfortable with less innocuous, less accurate uses of facial recognition technology.

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