Democratic senators to propose ban on use of facial recognition

nbcnews.com

15 points·longdefeat··5 comments

Proposed bills almost never go anywhere [1], so barring something unusual, it's best to wait for a state change with more signal, a.k.a. significant new information (SNI) [2].

[1] https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que...

[2] https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&qu...

Actual Title: "Facial recognition bill would ban use by federal law enforcement"

What a significant difference. I'm afraid of it in the hands of Big Brother. But I would love for my phone to be able to look through my glasses and notify me "violent escaped criminal 30 feet away at 11 o'clock."

Except then it would also be able to raise notifications like "person affiliated with <outgroup> 30 feet away at 11 o'clock." Add syndication and people who wrongthink could be tracked down like pokemon.

This is a good opportunity to improve the overall rigor in determining what can pass as scientific evidence in trials. Companies push this garbage to make a quick buck, prosecutors credulously buy in to boost their metrics, and the justice system becomes increasingly unjust. The efficacy of this stuff hasn't even been demonstrated, let alone the understanding of uncertainties jurors must have to weight this kind of information. Putting the brakes on for now is absolutely the right move. The fates of human beings should never be decided by commercial black boxes.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/FBI-Admits-Pseudos...

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/03/reversing-legacy-jun...

When there's nothing newsworthy, the news agencies use the future tense.

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