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 8 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

151 comments fedilink hide all child comments

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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[–] [email protected] 49 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

Go to the vendors website, and not only see hole for yourself, but look at them claiming to use AI to detect demographics.

PDF Link: https://a.storyblok.com/f/184550/x/e7435c019e/brochure-svm_generic-dark-netflix-ui.pdf

Their website: https://www.invendagroup.com/vending-machines

Here's my own screenshots in case the vendor takes their pdf down from bad press.

Hole: https://photos.app.goo.gl/rTk8fUWynmXgw7Zc6

AI Features: https://photos.app.goo.gl/RiF1Phrroj65tMdd7

[–] [email protected] 6 points 8 months ago

Demographic Sensor

People count

GDPR-compliant demographic profiling (age and gender)