• Jan 11, 2024
  • Glyn Moody
  • General Privacy News, Governments, Surveillance,

US FTC Order Sets Minimum Privacy Requirements for Biometric Surveillance in Commercial Settings

Over the last couple of years, it has become increasingly common for customers to be watched, tracked, and analyzed in stores. A key element of this surveillance is AI-based facial recognition. Companies say that the facial recognition software helps prevent shoplifting by recognizing people who have allegedly stolen goods before, even though it recently emerged … Continue reading “US FTC Order Sets Minimum Privacy Requirements for Biometric Surveillance in Commercial Settings”

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  • Dec 15, 2023
  • Glyn Moody
  • Announcements, General Privacy News, Governments, Online Privacy, Online Security, Surveillance,

What’s in the New EU Artificial Intelligence Act, and What Will It Mean for Global Privacy?

The EU has reached a political agreement on its groundbreaking Artificial Intelligence Act, which was first proposed back in 2021. All the main elements have been agreed, but some of the technical details still need to be filled in over the next few weeks. There’s no final text yet, but press releases from the European … Continue reading “What’s in the New EU Artificial Intelligence Act, and What Will It Mean for Global Privacy?”

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  • Aug 10, 2023
  • Glyn Moody
  • Cryptocurrency, General Privacy News, Governments, Online Privacy, Online Security, Social Media,

Worldcoin Crypto Project Aims to Let You Prove Your Identity While Remaining Anonymous

A few weeks ago, we wrote about the threat to privacy that central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) represent. Worldcoin is a potential answer to this problem. The project aims to create a new cryptocurrency “to enable universal access to the global economy,” while tackling two key issues that are increasingly relevant today: proving you are human, … Continue reading “Worldcoin Crypto Project Aims to Let You Prove Your Identity While Remaining Anonymous”

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  • Jan 5, 2023
  • Glyn Moody
  • General Privacy News, Online Privacy, Surveillance,

Biometric Data Is a Disaster For Your Privacy – And It May Already Be Used Against You

We’ve written many times on the PIA blog about the increasing use of biometric systems as a way of establishing identity and controlling access. Biometrics being used in this way is problematic for many reasons, most notably because of their limited accuracy. However, the biggest issue with biometrics is, by far, the fact that they … Continue reading “Biometric Data Is a Disaster For Your Privacy – And It May Already Be Used Against You”

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  • Apr 4, 2022
  • Glyn Moody
  • Governments, Social Media, Surveillance,

Clearview AI Fined in Italy, Starts Scanning Dead Russian Soldiers in Ukraine

Ever since the facial recognition company Clearview AI appeared from nowhere two years ago, it has remained at the leading edge of its field, not least in terms of ethics. As a recent PIA blog post reported, the company claims to be building a database holding 100 billion facial images, so that “almost everyone in … Continue reading “Clearview AI Fined in Italy, Starts Scanning Dead Russian Soldiers in Ukraine”

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  • Oct 25, 2021
  • Glyn Moody
  • Governments, Social Media, Surveillance,

European Parliament Calls for Bans on AI-based Biometric Recognition in Public Spaces, Predictive Policing, and Social Scoring

Back in April, Privacy News Online reported on an important set of proposals from the European Commission to regulate the use of artificial intelligence within the EU. It contained some good ideas, and warned that AI-based facial recognition systems were “high risk”. But that didn’t go far enough for the European Data Protection Board (EDPB), … Continue reading “European Parliament Calls for Bans on AI-based Biometric Recognition in Public Spaces, Predictive Policing, and Social Scoring”

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  • Sep 27, 2021
  • Glyn Moody
  • Cybersecurity, Governments, Surveillance,

EU is Spending More Than a Billion Dollars Expanding Biometric Honeypots, Despite Risks to Privacy and Freedom

Privacy News Online has just reported on a major privacy disaster in Afghanistan, where biometric and other highly personal data is now in the hands of the Taliban. That makes clear, in a dramatic fashion, the folly of creating huge databases of unique and unchangeable personal data. Of course, it could be argued that the … Continue reading “EU is Spending More Than a Billion Dollars Expanding Biometric Honeypots, Despite Risks to Privacy and Freedom”

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  • Sep 13, 2021
  • Glyn Moody
  • General Privacy News, Governments, Social Media, Surveillance,

What The West’s Disorderly Withdrawal from Afghanistan Tells Us About Privacy and its Preservation

In the wake of the West’s chaotic withdrawal from Kabul, and the rapid takeover of the country by the Taliban, Afghanistan continues to dominate the headlines. Given the major geopolitical implications of these events, with China already looking to capitalize on the West’s failure, that’s hardly surprising. What is more unexpected is how prominently issues … Continue reading “What The West’s Disorderly Withdrawal from Afghanistan Tells Us About Privacy and its Preservation”

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  • Jun 14, 2021
  • Glyn Moody
  • General Privacy News, Governments, Surveillance,

Yet another biometric surveillance system: using a person’s “micro-movements” to detect emotions

Surveillance systems often use biometrics to identify key aspects of individuals. A previous blog post discussed the use of gait recognition, behavioral biometrics, and even cardiac signatures for this purpose. But without doubt, the main technique here is facial recognition, and this has been discussed many times on this blog. The problems with this approach … Continue reading “Yet another biometric surveillance system: using a person’s “micro-movements” to detect emotions”

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