{"id":142833,"date":"2019-09-16T12:00:28","date_gmt":"2019-09-16T11:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=142833"},"modified":"2019-09-23T10:14:18","modified_gmt":"2019-09-23T09:14:18","slug":"get-out-of-my-face-facial-recognition-technology-could-enslave-humankind-like-never-before","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2019\/09\/get-out-of-my-face-facial-recognition-technology-could-enslave-humankind-like-never-before\/","title":{"rendered":"Get Out of My Face! Facial Recognition Technology Could Enslave Humankind like Never Before"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

\u00a9 Getty Images \/ Colin Anderson Productions pty ltd<\/p><\/div>\n

12 Sep 2019 – <\/em>Advertised as the latest tool to give shoppers more convenience, facial recognition comes with deep costs to privacy and security. Indeed, can anyone remember Silicon Valley asking for permission to use your face?<\/p>\n

Mankind has long feared that some totalitarian state, as vividly described by visionary writers like George Orwell (1984), Aldous Huxley (Brave New World), and Yevgeny Zamyatin (We), will ultimately arise and enslave him in an inescapable technological dystopia.<\/p>\n

However, it is not usually the technology, an inherently neutral force, which men fear most; the deep distrust is directed at the shadowy individuals behind the curtain who may be tempted to use their tinkering prowess for ulterior motives, like crushing human freedom underfoot.<\/p>\n

Also: Show me your face–Google Nest Hub surveillance system lets you bring Big Brother home with you <\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Consider, for example, how futurists warned of the day when consumers would voluntarily line up for the pleasure of being \u2018microchipped\u2019 so as to more efficiently access the \u2018matrix\u2019 with a magical wave of the hand. Well, that drop of derangement<\/a> has already seen the light of day. The technology, injected under the skin, was thought to be the end game, the so-called \u2018mark of the beast\u2019 according<\/a> to some apocalyptic critics, as far as personal freedom is concerned. Unless human beings submitted to being electronically chipped, the doomsayers say, they would be barred from engaging in vital social activities, including shopping, banking or using the Internet. In effect a death sentence.<\/p>\n

Today, however, with radical advances being made in the field of facial recognition technologies, it looks as though the promising chip has met its match.<\/p>\n

In a recent article<\/a> by Market Watch, a new \u2018frictionless\u2019 consumer dawn is on the horizon where cumbersome accessories like wallets and purses, together with the outdated cash and credit cards they hold, will be replaced by a payment scheme known as the \u201cbiometric mobile wallet<\/em>.\u201d Sounds like the ultimate gift this holiday season, right? Well, think again. First of all, the name of the technology is very misleading since there is no leather billfold to wrap up and place under the Christmas tree. That\u2019s because the system works off an individual\u2019s distinctive bodily features, face, fingerprints and retinas. In other words, the ultimate \u2018face control.\u2019<\/p>\n

More: You\u2019ve been warned: Widespread US face surveillance is \u2018imminent reality\u2019, says tech privacy report <\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

As to be expected, the article heaps boundless praise on the technology, which is on the verge of going live. Soon, harried shoppers will no longer have to fumble around in their purses to find their credit cards. Just stare blankly into the \u201cin-store facial recognition machines<\/em>\u201d and you\u2019re on your way. In addition to that small convenience it provides the consumer, it also has the added \u2018advantage\u2019 of making people spend more money, since the \u2018frictionless\u2019 transaction gives the illusion, and a potentially dangerous one at that considering the US consumer\u2019s outstanding debt burden, that no dirty money has traded hands.<\/p>\n

Still, something doesn\u2019t feel right. Perhaps it has to do with the summary of the article, which says that the deployment of facial recognition will remove \u201cthe last physical barrier between our bodies and Corporate America<\/em>.\u201d I felt the urge to take a very hot shower after reading that line. And later in the same article, the creep factor went into overdrive with a similar quote by Aram Sinnreich, associate professor of communication studies at American University.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery technological necessity exists in the real world and is used commercially<\/em>,\u201d Sinnreich said matter-of-factly. \u201cIt\u2019s the neoliberal takeover of the human body.<\/em>\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Yet another loaded comment, and one that screams \u2018enslavement\u2019 minus the unfashionable chains of yesteryear. The question is, who will exactly benefit from this so-called \u201ctechnological necessity\u201d and to what end? The only real benefits that I can see from facial recognition, at least from the consumers\u2019 perspective, are that people no longer have to worry about losing their wallets, or wasting an extra 30 seconds using their credit cards.<\/p>\n

Homeland Security fuses all biometric data on an Amazon server – what could go wrong? <\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But do those small advantages outweigh massive concerns over \u2018identity theft,\u2019 for example? After all, while it remains relatively easy to cancel a stolen credit card, how exactly does one cancel their facial features? Moreover, what if my own personal views clash with those of the \u201cneoliberals<\/em>\u201d who, as the headline of the article openly admits, own everyone\u2019s facial features? Will my ability to buy food, access my smart phone and book a flight be impeded by the Silicon Valley overlords? Who will stop them?<\/p>\n

To get an idea where the future of facial recognition could be heading, one need only consider China, which is in the process of rolling out<\/a> its so-called \u2018Social Credit System,\u2019 a fusion between \u2018Big Data\u2019 and \u2018Big Brother\u2019 that ranks its citizens on everything from their finances, to their social media behavior, to the books they are reading. Falling afoul of the system could have harsh consequences, like being denied the ability to purchase airline tickets or even getting a job. Facial recognition will play no small part in the development of this all-encompassing matrix that relies upon some 200 million surveillance cameras, and let\u2019s face it, if the Chinese can find a way to electronically monitor their 1.3 billion people, then anyone can. After all, the same technology that identifies the lonely face in the crowd is the same one that allows users of Apple\u2019s iPhone to access \u201cFace ID<\/em>\u201d to unlock their phones.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Western world is gradually catching up to Chinese levels of mass surveillance. Of the top 10 cities in the world with the highest number of CCTV cameras, eight are located in China. However, the United States and the UK also ranked<\/a>, with London taking sixth place, followed by Atlanta, Georgia grabbing the tenth spot.<\/p>\n

Today, new facial recognition applications continue to expand exponentially. Computers are now able to measure<\/a> the emotional state of motorists just by accessing their facial image. Will drivers be fined for \u2018road rage\u2019 even before an outburst occurs? Is this the sort of controlled world we want to inhabit where our identities and emotional states are tracked everywhere we go? Whatever the case may be, one thing is certain, IT companies have no intention of holding a referendum to determine how their users feel about this technology.<\/p>\n

In a 2018 paper entitled, \u2018The Data of You: Regulating Private Industry\u2019s Collection of Biometric Information,\u2019 attorney Hannah Zimmerman admits<\/a> there is \u201cno generally applicable federal law that regulates the private sector\u2019s collection and use of biometric information in the US.<\/em>\u201d Given the upsurge in facial recognition implementation that is a worrying disclosure.<\/p>\n

Zimmerman goes on to warn that businesses \u201calready track consumers\u2019 every move online for advertising and behavioral analysis purposes<\/em>,\u201d while the introduction of facial recognition would let them \u201ctrack us in the real world.<\/em>\u201d Again, we are left to ponder the question: is this a desirable condition for human beings?<\/p>\n

While the implications that arise from such technology are enormous, and not all necessarily negative, it stands to reason that safeguards must be established to ensure that people do not wake up one day to find themselves enslaved by the invisible chains of this new technology, which will only serve mankind\u2019s best interests so long as its owners strive for that to happen. Thus far, their true intentions are not so obvious, and that unpredictability should be a source of concern to everyone.<\/p>\n

___________________________________________________<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Robert Bridge is an American writer and journalist. Former editor-in-chief of <\/em>The Moscow News, he is author of the book<\/em>, Midnight in the American Empire, released in 2013. <\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Go to Original \u2013 rt.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

12 Sep 2019 – Advertised as the latest tool to give shoppers more convenience, facial recognition comes with deep costs to privacy and security. Indeed, can anyone remember Silicon Valley asking for permission to use your face? <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":142834,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[216,65,60,203,220],"tags":[1235,229,910,1009,232,120,958,276,331,558,354,328,125,487,378,651,1440,234,109,287,1277,1153,985,1109,911,461,70,126,172,75],"class_list":["post-142833","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology","category-anglo-america","category-whistleblowing-surveillance","category-development","category-civil-society","tag-1235","tag-activism","tag-big-brother","tag-big-tech","tag-capitalism","tag-conflict","tag-control","tag-democracy","tag-development","tag-dictatorship","tag-economics","tag-freedom","tag-freedom-of-the-press","tag-human-rights","tag-journalism","tag-justice","tag-marketing","tag-media","tag-politics","tag-power","tag-privacy-rights","tag-progress","tag-social-justice","tag-spying","tag-surveillance","tag-technology","tag-usa","tag-violence","tag-west","tag-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142833","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=142833"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142833\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/142834"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=142833"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=142833"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=142833"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}