"New documents obtained by 404 Media reveal that Clearview AI spent nearly a million dollars in a bid to purchase “690 million arrest records and 390 million arrest photos” from all 50 states from an intelligence firm. The contract further describes the records as including current and former home addresses, dates of birth, arrest photos, social security and cell phone numbers, and email addresses. Clearview attempted to purchase this data from Investigative Consultant, Inc. (ICI) which billed itself as an intelligence company with access to tens of thousands of databases and the ability to create unique data streams for its clients. The contract was signed in mid-2019, at a time when Clearview AI was quietly collecting billions of photos off the internet and was relatively unknown at the time.

Ultimately, the entire deal fell apart after Clearview and ICI clashed about the utility of the data with each company filing breach of contract claims. The dispute ultimately went into arbitration where it is common for disputes to be settled privately. The arbiter ultimately sided with Clearview AI in 2024 and ordered ICI to return the contract money. To date, ICI has not paid Clearview, with the company now seeking a court order to enforce the arbiter’s ruling."

https://www.404media.co/facial-recognition-company-clearview-attempted-to-buy-social-security-numbers-and-mugshots-for-its-database/

#Clearview #Surveillance #Privacy #DataProtection #SocialSecurity #FacialRecognition #Biometrics

"Responding to South Wales Police’s announcement that it will be installing a network of facial recognition cameras across Cardiff city centre for Six Nations rugby games, Madeleine Stone, Senior Advocacy Officer at Big Brother Watch, said:

“Embedding facial recognition surveillance in a city-wide CCTV network represents a shocking expansion of police surveillance, and turns Cardiff into an Orwellian zone of biometric surveillance. This unprecedented use of the technology could pave the way for the mass rollout of permanent facial recognition surveillance across the UK.

“Live facial recognition technology turns us into walking barcodes and makes us a nation of suspects. This network of facial recognition cameras will make it impossible for Cardiff residents and visitors to opt-out of a biometric police identity check."

https://bigbrotherwatch.org.uk/press-releases/big-brother-watch-condemns-uks-first-use-of-city-wide-facial-recognition-in-cardiff/

#UK #Wales #Cardiff #Surveillance #PoliceState #Biometrics #FacialRecognition

"With the ongoing expansion of GPS tagging under the UK Home Office’s electronic monitoring programme, the Home Office has increasingly deployed non-fitted devices (NFDs) that track a person’s GPS location and request frequent biometric verification in the form of fingerprint scans.

The NFDs deployed by the UK Home Office are small handheld devices with a fingerprint scanner that record a person’s location 24/7 (referred to as their trail data). Most recently, migrants are being provided with Android mobile phones equipped with a fingerprint scanner at the back, which are also equipped with 24/7 GPS tracking technology. The devices alert the person at random intervals throughout the day requesting their fingerprint scan, which it then compares against a representation of the biometric information stored on the device. This is in order to verify that the person has the device with them at all times for the purposes of tracking.

Previous research PI did in relation to the NFDs determined that these alerts are sent to the wearer up to 5 times per day. Although as set out below, there are reports that individuals are in fact being sent many more alerts than this in a given day. Those subjected to these devices have cited detrimental impacts to their daily life and mental and physical wellbeing, due to the pervasive and erratic nature of these devices."

https://edri.org/our-work/non-fitted-devices-in-the-uk-home-offices-surveillance-arsenal-investigating-the-technology-behind-gps-fingerprint-scanners/

#UK #PoliceState #NFDs #GPS #Biometrics #Fingerprints

"The rapid expansion of educational technologies (EdTech) has introduced serious concerns about human rights protection in educational spaces. This briefing explores the impact of facial recognition technology (FRT) and heightened surveillance in these settings, highlighting many complex and multifaceted issues that demand careful consideration from a human rights perspective.

From the erosion of privacy and the securitisation of educational spaces - that undermines the learning and growth processes - to the perpetuation of bias and discrimination, and the lack of data protection safeguards, not to mention the role of private interests, this briefing explains why we believe that iIt is crucial to ban FRT in educational spaces and stop its use now.

At the end of the briefing, we share a roadmap of key issues that it is necessary to consider for anyone thinking of introducing FRT in educational spaces to help analyse its impact on human rights."

https://privacyinternational.org/advocacy/5469/pis-briefing-critical-examination-facial-recognition-implementation-educational

#UK #FacialRecognition #Biometrics #Surveillance #Privacy #FRT

"The UK is "veering dangerously close to becoming a police state" because of facial scanners being used in high streets, MPs have heard.

Calls have been mounted for live facial recognition technology to be halted amid questions over accuracy and privacy. The software - currently being deployed in London, South Wales and Essex - allows officers to scan the faces of passers-by and check them against watchlists.

Several MPs raised concerns about software misidentifying innocent members of the public - particularly Black, Asian and minority ethnic groups. Labour MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy said: "We're veering dangerously close to becoming a police state with levels of surveillance that would only be deemed acceptable in the most autheritarian police states. It's not a matter of 'those with nothing to hide have nothing to fear', it's a matter of our basic privacy."

She pointed to research by campaign group Big Brother Watch which found 89% of facial recognition alerts to date wrongly identified members. Tory Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said current software is far more accurate."

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/uk-veering-towards-police-state-34098123

#UK #PoliceState #Surveillance #FacialRecognition #Biometrics

1985 Print Circuit Life

The image represents a printed circuit board design overlaid with fingerprint patterns, symbolizing the intersection of human identity and technology.

https://friendica-leipzig.de/photo/media/255706

#photography #illustration #madman #nocontext #sfw #biometrics #digitalidentities #technologicalconvergence #uniqueidentifiers