Deconstructing Code

Tampa police eliminate facial-recognition system

Tampa police eliminate facial-recognition system
But after two years, it yielded no positive identifications and no arrests. "It was of no benefit to us, and it served no real purpose," Capt. Bob Guidara said Wednesday, emphasizing the decision to drop the software was based on its ineffectiveness rather than privacy issues.

Posted by rshah on August 21, 2003| Comments (0)

FACE SCANNING TECHNOLOGY FAILS IN PILOT PROGRAM

FACE SCANNING TECHNOLOGY FAILS IN PILOT PROGRAM
The ACLU reports that a pilot program implementing face scanning technology at the Palm Beach International Airport proved to be a failure. The technology failed to identify airport employees 53 percent of the time, according to data obtained under Florida's open records law.

Posted by rshah on May 16, 2002| Comments (0)

Scanning Tech a Blurry Picture

Scanning Tech a Blurry Picture
Iris-scanning and face-matching technologies don't work nearly as well as their manufacturers have claimed, the Department of Defense has discovered. King said that of the 270 persons checked by the Visionics system, it correctly recognized individuals a mere 51 percent of the time. The supposedly more reliable Iridian eye-scanners, meanwhile, correctly verified someone's identity just 94 percent of the time.

Posted by rshah on February 18, 2002| Comments (0)

Your Face Is Not a Bar Code

Your Face Is Not a Bar Code
Arguments Against Automatic Face Recognition in Public Places by Phil Agre

Posted by rshah on September 10, 2001| Comments (0)

Borders to Use CCTV Face Recognition

Borders to Use CCTV Face Recognition
This story at the Sunday Herald newspaper says Borders Bookshop is to become the world's first retailer to use face recognition software linked to their in-store CCTV cameras to automagically identify known shoplifters."

Posted by rshah on August 27, 2001| Comments (0)

Colorado will map all drivers' faces into "3D" database

Colorado will map all drivers' faces into "3D" database
Colorado will be taking pictures of people when they get drivers licenses and use face recognition to compare them with mug shots. It states they are buying the technology and equipment from Polaroid.

Posted by rshah on July 06, 2001| Comments (0)

Tampa Scans the Faces in Its Crowds for Criminals

Tampa Scans the Faces in Its Crowds for Criminals
The Tampa Police Department has placed three dozen security cameras with face-recognition software in a downtown district popular with locals and tourists. Now, everyone who visits the district, Ybor City, for a burger or a beer runs the risk of having his face digitally scanned and the noses, cheeks and chins checked against a mug-shot database of murderers, drug dealers and other criminal suspects with arrest warrants.

Posted by rshah on July 04, 2001| Comments (0)

Prying Eyes of Tampa Police

Prying Eyes of Tampa Police
Building off of the Super Bowl incident here in Tampa, the Police have instituted the technology directly into the cameras around Ybor City. From Bay News 9: "Police, using pole-mounted, remotely-controlled surveillance cameras, scan crowds of people and feed their digital images into a massive databank with the purpose of finding a match on anyone with an outstanding arrest warrant. The cameras have the ability to tilt, pan and capture digital images of anyone within range.

Posted by rshah on July 02, 2001| Comments (0)

Face-Recognition Systems Offer New Tools, but Mixed Results

Face-Recognition Systems Offer New Tools, but Mixed Results
Face recognition is very much in its infancy. It works reasonably well at confirming the identity of someone who wants to log on to a computer or pass through a security checkpoint. But it has yet to yield consistent results in law-enforcement and surveillance settings, where, depending on lighting, the camera angle and quality, and other variables, its powers of discrimination can be more akin to Mr. Magoo's than Superman's.