'Too dangerous:' Why even Google was afraid to release this technology
https://www.npr.org/2023/10/11/1204822946/facial-recognition-search-engine-ai-pim-eyes-google(4 min. audio at link)
October 11, 2023 5:01 AM ET
Bobby Allyn
Imagine strolling down a busy city street and snapping a photo of a stranger then uploading it into a search engine that almost instantaneously identifies the person.
This isn't a hypothetical. It's possible now, thanks to a website called PimEyes, considered one of the most powerful publicly available facial recognition tools online.
On TikTok, PimEyes has become a formidable tool for internet sleuths trying to identify strangers, with videos notching many millions of views showing how a combination of PimEyes, and other search tools, can, for example, figure out the name of a random cameraman at a Taylor Swift concert.
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While the company claims it is a service that can help people monitor their online presence, it has generated controversy for its use as a surveillance tool for stalkers, collecting countless images of children and for adding images of dead people to its database without permission.
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2naSalit
(86,802 posts)In not regulating the technology in the first place.
CrispyQ
(36,527 posts)We are all partly to blame, too, enjoying the conveniences of digital life even as experts warned about security & privacy issues. Also, too many believe if you aren't doing anything wrong then you have nothing to worry about. That's not the point.
One nation, under surveillance.
I have that tee-shirt, with a surveillance camera painted like the American flag.
2naSalit
(86,802 posts)I don't subscribe to much online. DU is one place, my email that I hardly ever open is the other. I don't shop or bank or do any activity that involves personal info. My phone is a phone and a texting device, no browsing is done and I don't do any social media platform gazing, not subscribed to any, never have.
Still I get hacked on occasion because an employer agency gets hacked and I'm in their database. I do my part, it's all I can do. I don't mind being a Luddite.
CrispyQ
(36,527 posts)A Google search on his name hardly gets any hits & some are through me.
calimary
(81,507 posts)Being harder to find is a smart strategy.
Some searcher may find it a more worthy (and advantageous) pursuit to find an easier target. Just a guess.
PatSeg
(47,611 posts)By the time people realized some of the dangers of new technology, often it was too late. Like you said, "that horse is out of that barn & long gone".
We went from barely understanding how the internet worked & most of us not even owning a home computer, to doing our shopping & banking online in less than ten years. I love my text alerts on my financial accounts. And login alerts, too.
Remember when we had to wait each month for our bank statement in the mail OR go to the bank personally to see if a check cleared. I love being able to check my account regularly and paying bills online. I opened my account 13 years ago and I'm up to check #143!
I also love that I can look up almost anything. I remember making trips to the library when I wanted to find certain information. I do all my shopping, even groceries, from home now. I certainly wouldn't want to go back to the old way.