

The Future of Privacy: Facial Recognition, Public Facts, and 300MM Little Bros - davidcthompson
http://volokh.com/2010/06/11/the-future-of-privacy-facial-recognition-public-facts-and-300-million-little-brothers/

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kurtosis
If this technology becomes more widespread, I would expect to see people
wearing clothing in public that covers their faces: hoods, hats, and thick
sunglasses. I've heard the widespread presence of surveillance cameras cited
as one reason for the popularity of hoodies in London. People can adapt to
this type of technology without too large of a disruption to their lifestyle.

In some ways it would be nice because it would make it would make it more
socially acceptable to walk around with your face concealed. Many people would
prefer to do this so they can leave their house and still avoid unwanted
social contact.

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gaius
It's exciting in a way - like 15th century Venice.

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younata
I think that what should happen is that the courts will use the same rules in
slander cases for facial recognition of photos: if it hurts you, and you're
not a public person, then you just need to prove that they caused you pain in
whatever form (financial, legal, physical, etc.). If you're a public person,
(i.e. celebrity, elected gov't official), then you need to prove malice on
behalf of the people who hurt you.

At least, that's how I hope the courts will treat these issues.

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pyre
What if there is no one to sue though? Think of it. What if you anonymously
filmed/photographed all the people going into an abortion clinic, produced a
list of names/addresses, and then anonymously posted that list online?

This could easily allow people with an agenda to drag us into a society
reminiscent of the Soviet-era fear of your neighbour. "Should I get that
abortion? Or is it too risky that my name might be blasted all over the
Internet and maybe I become the target of some nut-case that wants to use
blood to make a point?"

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younata
well, in that case, wouldn't it be the fault of whoever caused you damage -
maybe the photograph was innocently taken, but the group that uses the facial
recognition data to attack you obviously need to give you money.

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gaius
That's not much consolation, is it? A group or an individual that would attack
someone based on an anonymous online posting a) isn't going to care about
punishment after the fact, in fact will revel in it and b) won't have any
assets anyway.

