PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "The Swift team’s reported use of facial recognition, however, could represent a new tactic: luring people to step in front of the camera, rather than just scanning a crowd or waiting for fans to pass by. It was not clear which company designed the kiosk, whether it was used at other concerts, whether any potential stalkers were identified and, if so, what was done about them. The Oak View Group and Swift’s representatives did not respond to requests for comment. Only a couple of states have laws restricting the use of facial recognition and California is not among them. Nonetheless, many civil liberties advocates consider it to be among the most invasive surveillance technologies because it can be used to recognize people at a distance without their knowledge or permission, curtailing their ability to go about their business anonymously in public. “Obviously, stalking of celebrities is a real problem,” said Jay Stanley, senior policy analyst for the American Civil Liberties Union. “This is a somewhat sympathetic deployment of the technology but, nonetheless, there are a number of concerns about where this goes.""
STORY: "Face recognition tech used at Taylor Swift concert to track stalkers,"
GIST: "When
Taylor Swift played the Rose Bowl in May, a kiosk was set up for
adoring fans to view videos of her. But there may have been more to that
screen than met the eye. According to an interview in Rolling
Stone, the kiosk took photos of people looking at the videos. The images
were sent back to a “command post” in Nashville, where they were
cross-referenced, using facial recognition technology, with a database
of people who had been identified as potential stalkers of the pop star. The
use of facial recognition was revealed by Mike Downing, the chief
security officer of Oak View Group, an entertainment company, who told
Rolling Stone that he observed the technology firsthand as a guest of
the company that designed the kiosks. “Everybody who went by would stop and stare at it, and the software would start working,” Downing told Rolling Stone. Facial
recognition is proliferating both as a technology to help law
enforcement identify criminals and as a convenient feature to help
consumers unlock their phones, among other functions. Its use is also
growing in the entertainment realm: Madison Square Garden is among the
venues employing it. The
Swift team’s reported use of facial recognition, however, could
represent a new tactic: luring people to step in front of the camera,
rather than just scanning a crowd or waiting for fans to pass by. It was
not clear which company designed the kiosk, whether it was used at
other concerts, whether any potential stalkers were identified and, if
so, what was done about them. The Oak View Group and Swift’s
representatives did not respond to requests for comment. Only a
couple of states have laws restricting the use of facial recognition and
California is not among them. Nonetheless, many civil liberties
advocates consider it to be among the most invasive surveillance
technologies because it can be used to recognize people at a distance
without their knowledge or permission, curtailing their ability to go
about their business anonymously in public. “Obviously, stalking
of celebrities is a real problem,” said Jay Stanley, senior policy
analyst for the American Civil Liberties Union. “This is a somewhat
sympathetic deployment of the technology but, nonetheless, there are a
number of concerns about where this goes.” Swift has had several
documented instances of stalkers. This month, Roger Alvarado agreed to a
plea deal that included six months’ imprisonment in connection with a
break-in at Swift’s New York City townhouse. The police said he had been
asleep in her bed. In 2014, Swift discussed her need for a security detail in an interview with Esquire. She
spoke of “the sheer number of men we have in a file who have showed up
at my house, showed up at my mom’s house, threatened to either kill me,
kidnap me or marry me. “This is the strange and sad part of my
life that I try not to think about,” she said. “I try to be lighthearted
about it, because I don’t ever want to be scared. I don’t want to be
walking down the street scared. And when I have security, I don’t have
to be scared.”"
The entire story can be read at:
The entire story can be read at:
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/
