Privacy

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A place to discuss privacy and freedom in the digital world.

Privacy has become a very important issue in modern society, with companies and governments constantly abusing their power, more and more people are waking up to the importance of digital privacy.

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'Facial recognition' error message on vending machine sparks concern at University of Waterloo (kitchener.ctvnews.ca)

submitted 9 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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A set of smart vending machines at the University of Waterloo is expected to be removed from campus after students raised privacy concerns about their software.

The machines have M&M artwork on them and sell chocolate and other candy. They are located throughout campus, including in the Modern Languages building and Hagey Hall.

Earlier this month, a student noticed an error message on one of the machines in the Modern Languages building. It appeared to indicate there was a problem with a facial recognition application.

"We wouldn't have known if it weren't for the application error. There's no warning here," said River Stanley, a fourth-year student, who investigated the machines for an article in the university publication, mathNEWS.

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[–] Railing5132 9 points 9 months ago (1 children)

When society started paying for convenience?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 9 months ago (2 children)

At the dawn of civilization? Lol

Prostitutes, the world's oldest profession, could be argued to be paying for convenience.

People also probably paid for cooked meals pretty early in civilization.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago

No phones back then, changed the game :)

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago

And you can bet your ass that prostitutes sold information about their clients, if offered any compnsation for it. :)