Six million would-be U.S. immigrants face expanded collection of their biometric data, including iris scans, palm-, and voice-prints, facial recognition images, and DNA, under a proposed federal rule. The Department of Homeland Security also for the first time would gather that data from American citizens sponsoring or benefiting from a visa application. Bloomberg Law reports: Years in the making, the biometrics…
Tag: biometric
Microsoft Warns Workaround Preventing Lenovo ThinkPad BSOD Increases Risk
An anonymous reader quotes ZDNet: Microsoft has finally published a support document detailing its workaround for the August 2020 Patch Tuesday update for Windows 10 version 2004 that caused blue screens of deaths (BSODs) on newer Lenovo ThinkPads and broke Windows Hello biometric login… It’s the same as Lenovo’s earlier workaround but comes with a stern security warning from Microsoft. Microsoft…
CBP Does Not Make it Clear Americans Can Opt-out of Airport Face Scanning, Watchdog Says
A government watchdog has criticized U.S. border authorities for failing to properly disclose the agency’s use of facial recognition at airports, which included instructions on how Americans can opt out. From a report: U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), tasked with protecting the border and screening immigrants, has deployed its face-scanning technology in 27 U.S. airports as part of its Biometric…
‘Landlord Tech Watch’ Site Lets You Report Landlords Using Tech To Screw Over Tenants
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Motherboard: A group of activists have released Landlord Tech Watch, a site that allows anyone to report where this “landlord tech” is being used and plot it on a map — like a version of Nextdoor that turns the tables to hold property owners and real estate companies accountable. The project is the effort…
University of Michigan Study Advocates Ban of Facial Recognition in Schools
University of Michigan researchers recently published a study showing facial recognition technology in schools has limited efficacy and presents a number of serious problems. From a report: The research was led by Shobita Parthasarathy, director of the university’s Science, Technology, and Public Policy (STPP) program, and finds the technology isn’t just ill-suited to security purposes, it can actively promote racial discrimination,…
NIST Study Finds That Masks Defeat Most Facial Recognition Algorithms
In a report published today by the National Institutes of Science and Technology (NIST), a physical sciences laboratory and non-regulatory agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce, researchers attempted to evaluate the performance of facial recognition algorithms on faces partially covered by protective masks. They report that even the best of the 89 commercial facial recognition algorithms they tested had error…
New York Bans Use of Facial Recognition In Schools Statewide
The New York legislature today passed a moratorium banning the use of facial recognition and other forms of biometric identification in schools until 2022. VentureBeat reports: The bill, which has yet to be signed by Governor Andrew Cuomo, appears to be the first in the nation to explicitly regulate the use of the technologies in schools and comes in response to…
US Accuses Supplier for Amazon, Apple, Dell, GM, Microsoft of Human Rights Abuses
The US Department of Commerce added 11 Chinese companies to its list of firms implicated in human rights violations, including China’s reported campaign against Muslim minority groups from an area of the country known as the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region. At least one of those companies, Nanchang O-Film Tech, is listed as a supplier or undefined “partner” with nearly two dozen…
Facial Recognition Bill Would Ban Use By Federal Law Enforcement
An anonymous reader quotes a report from NBC News: Sens. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., introduced legislation Thursday that seeks to ban the use of facial recognition and other biometric surveillance technology by federal law enforcement agencies. The legislation would also make federal funding for state and local law enforcement contingent on the enactment of similar bans. The Facial…
Safari 14 Will Let You Log in To Websites With Your Face or Finger
With Safari on iOS 14, MacOS Big Sur and iPadOS 14, you’ll be able to log in to websites using Apple’s Face ID and Touch ID biometric authentication. That’s a powerful endorsement for technology called FIDO — Fast Identity Online — that’s paving the way to a future without passwords. From a report: Apple disclosed the biometric authentication support in Safari…