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Fusion – You’re being secretly tracked with facial recognition, even in church

Fusion – You’re being secretly tracked with facial recognition, even in church

“You, I, everyone has the right to take photographs in public,” said Carl Szabo, a lawyer at advertising group Netchoice who was on the other side of the Commerce debate. “Facial recognition can be applied immediately, or days later, or months later. If someone takes a photograph in public, and wants to apply facial recognition, should they really need to get consent in advance? Are they going chase someone down the street to get them to fill out a form?”

Szabo said he was disappointed that the privacy groups had dropped out of the negotiations but that the Department of Commerce working group will still issue standards on facial recognition for industry. He thinks companies just need to be transparent about what they’re doing and put notices up about facial recognition being used. He says businesses will change their ways if consumers signal that they don’t like it. “I don’t know if society will get used to Carl Szabo being identified as he’s walking down the street,” he said. “But if a business makes people uncomfortable, there will be a backlash.”

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