
A tech NGO got sucked into a Covid-19 conspiracy theory - DanBC
https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news/2020/04/15/id2020-coronavirus-vaccine-misinformation
======
catalogia
> _In Bangladesh, it announced that the government would create a database of
> children’s immunisations linked to their parents’ biometric information –
> most likely a digital fingerprint._

What is meant by "[biometric] digital fingerprint"? Do they just mean a
literal fingerprint, but digitized? When I think of "digital fingerprints" I
think of things like canvas fingerprinting or maybe perceptual hashing, not
anything to do with biometrics.

If they just mean taking prints of fingers and digitizing them, maybe just say
"fingerprint" and drop the "digital" from the description. That's easier to
understand. If people understand something, they'll fear it less.

~~~
detaro
Matching of fingerprints and other biometrics is typically not done by storing
an actual image, but by storing feature information hash-like. "digital
fingerprint" is a pretty good term for that.

~~~
catalogia
I'm aware that comparison of fingerprints is done by
extracting/storing/comparing features. But in 2020 the digitization of
fingerprints can/should go without saying and the details of how fingerprints
are compared are just a distraction at best for most of the general public.

As for 'digital fingerprint' being a good term for that, I disagree. I think
that's a term that's very likely to confuse the layperson. If you search that
term on wikipedia you'll find a disambiguation page that lists six options,
none of which have anything to do with fingers: _Message digest, Device
fingerprint, Digital video fingerprinting, Acoustic fingerprint, Canvas
fingerprinting, Content ID (algorithm)_
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_fingerprint](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_fingerprint)

If you search the same on google in a private window, the first two or three
pages of results are all about the same computer-related topics as that
wikipedia page (the first result is that wikipedia page, and the second is a
blog post from Mozilla about browser fingerprinting.) After a few pages I
started to find pages about digitized prints of fingers, so I don't doubt that
people in the fingerprinting industry use this terminology. Nevertheless I can
_easily_ see laypeople being mislead.

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mywittyname
Does anyone know where Alex Jones gets his ideas? Part of me thinks his team
just makes shit up, but sometimes he seems to be part of a coordinated effort.

~~~
ardy42
> Does anyone know where Alex Jones gets his ideas? Part of me thinks his team
> just makes shit up, but sometimes he seems to be part of a coordinated
> effort.

IIRC, a former InfoWars employee goes into that a bit in this article:

[https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/05/magazine/alex-jones-
infow...](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/05/magazine/alex-jones-
infowars.html):

> I Worked for Alex Jones. I Regret It.

> I dropped out of film school to edit video for the conspiracy theorist
> because I believed in his worldview. Then I saw what it did to people.

> ...

> Shortly after Jones began selling the supplements, someone posted a video on
> YouTube holding a Geiger counter displaying high radiation readings on a
> beach in Half Moon Bay, Calif. The video went viral, stoking fears that
> radiation from Fukushima was drifting across the Pacific Ocean. Jones saw an
> opportunity and sent me, along with a reporter, a writer and another
> cameraman, to California. We had multiple Geiger counters shipped overnight,
> unaware of how to read or work them, and drove up the West Coast, frequently
> stopping to check radiation levels. Other than a small spike in Half Moon
> Bay — which the California Department of Public Health said was from
> naturally occurring radioactive materials, not Fukushima — we found nothing.

> Jones was furious. We started getting calls from the radio-show producers in
> the office, warning us to stop posting videos to YouTube stating we weren’t
> finding elevated levels of radiation. We couldn’t just stop, though; Jones
> demanded constant real-time content. On some of these calls, I could hear
> Jones screaming in the background. One of the producers told me they had
> never seen him so angry.

~~~
aspenmayer
Alex Jones seems to have a form of Steve Jobs' much maligned reality
distortion field.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reality_distortion_field](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reality_distortion_field)

~~~
e40
I don't believe AJ believes anything he says. That was clear in his divorce
trial where he said his insane statements (being used against him in the
trial) were not real.

Him and a bunch of others on radio and TV use these extreme views to get
filthy rich. It is truly digusting.

~~~
meowface
I actually do think he 100% believes everything he says. If you read the
transcript from the trial, it was just his lawyer trying to list that as one
of many defenses. "It's just entertainment, it's not real", basically. Just a
lawyer doing what they have to do for the sake of their client; kind of like
how there were all those articles about Elon Musk saying some crazy thing in
his defamation trial, when it was just his lawyers using a standard defense.
He's never himself said what he's saying isn't real or isn't what he truly
believes.

If you listen to Jones speak for hours (which may or may not be recommended,
depending on what you're looking for), I think that sort of thing is hard to
fake. The sad thing is probably millions of people organically believe the
sorts of things he believes, including people who don't watch him. They read
the same sources, they're part of the same circles, they have a rigid
preconceived world view that's very different from everyone else's.

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zionic
Wow, the ratio of [dead] to non-[dead] comments in this thread is the highest
I've ever seen

------
lihaciudaniel
>Some of the “alt-right” commentary focuses on a “UN plan”

Can't tell what is more tragic that finding solutions is considered a
conspiracy, or that COVID-19 causes more conspiracy by isolating people.

~~~
tasogare
> In a matter of weeks, ID2020 – which advocates for digital ID for the
> billion _undocumented people_ worldwide

Even that article that is 100% endorsing the initiative can’t formulate in a
non-creepy way what it is supposed to do.

~~~
DanBC
In the Universal Declaration of Human Rights there's a bunch of stuff which is
possible, but hard, to provide if people don't have ID.

Giving people ID makes providing a lot of those human rights much easier.

For example, access to democracy is important, and ID is part of that.

~~~
pjc50
ID is not a requirement for democracy. ID requirements are a convenience for
the state, and it's possible to run a society without them without being
overrun by fraud.

It's _useful_ for people to be able to present ID to receive entitlements, but
it's only there because the state has imposed a requirement.

~~~
JetSetWilly
Nobody asks for an ID when you vote in the UK. You show up, tell them your
address and name, they look up up in the book and give you the ballot. There's
no check that you are who you say you are at all - you could be anyone.

Yet the UK is a functioning democracy. So ID certainly is not a requirement
for democracy.

~~~
DanBC
> You show up, tell them your address and name, they look up up in the book
> and give you the ballot.

When they talk about ID they don't mean a document you carry around with you.

They mean the processes that allow someone in England to register to vote, and
then walk into a polling booth and give their name and address and get a
ballot paper in return.

Using your example: you can't vote twice. You walking into your local station,
and use your vote. If you return later in the day your identity is known to
have already voted. If you walk to a different polling station your identity
is not known there (even if you take your passport), so you can't vote there.

~~~
JetSetWilly
That is a good point, I hadn't thought about it like that. However the
requirements to register to vote in the UK are pretty lax as well - to go on
the electoral roll you tell the government your name and address, and you
pinky promise that you're telling the truth. They then mail you polling cards
for any election, which you don't need to use.

You don't need to give them any national insurance numbers or other ID to do
this. It literally amounts to "I'm Joe Bloggs and I live at 20 Smith Street".
That seems like the bare minimum required to have a voting system to me.

~~~
outworlder
> "I'm Joe Bloggs and I live at 20 Smith Street".

Also known as, an ID.

------
scottlocklin
Creepy UN propaganda arm indignantly declares creepy "tech NGO" not guilty of
anything untoward, tries to blame humble water filter merchant for their
misfortunes, despite his obviously not being involved at all beyond having
mentioned them once a half a year ago.

I feel a little bad for Gates who probably means well, but then I see crap
like this and don't blame the tinfoil helmet crew for mistrusting these
creepazoids. Their every action seems designed to engender mistrust. Can't
they afford a real PR firm? Maybe they should hire Wolfram's; they're doing
something right.

~~~
detaro
> _tries to blame humble water filter merchant for their misfortunes_

?

~~~
FriendlyNormie
“Humble water filter merchant” is a term that some people use to describe Alex
Jones.

~~~
outworlder
Wow. How did the 'humble' adjective can ever stick to that person? Is this
used tongue in cheek?

~~~
FriendlyNormie
The whole phrase is a multilayered meme. It’s generally used by alt-right neo
nazis with conflicted emotions who believe Alex Jones works for the Jews but
also find his tantrums endearing. “Humble merchant” is a phrase often used by
modern antisemites when they parody the speech of an imaginary Jew describing
himself in a disarming way. Use of the meme also reveals how long a person has
been immersed in alt-right neo nazi internet culture, because it likely
originated when Alex Jones’ primary product was water filters rather than
supplements, so anyone using the meme has probably been an alt-right neo nazi
for 4+ years, or at least reads what such people say fairly often.

~~~
dang
That's morbidly interesting but I don't think it's fair to tar scottlocklin
with that brush. That's a severe accusation, a smear if untrue, and I've not
seen any evidence of it. In fact his comment upthread expresses a
contradictory view, just in a 'pox on all your houses' way.

~~~
scottlocklin
Thanks dang. I'm pretty sure this person is a troll I know IRL.

For the humor deprived, I'll spell it out.

1) I'm pretty sure Alex Jones would be mad if I called him that. That's one of
the many things that makes it funny.

2) Alex Jones is a completely harmless kook, and it's shameful how he is
demonized by powerful elements in our society with the acquiescence of people
who should know better.

3) For example: this is a literal smear done by a UN propaganda agency done
against ... Alex Jones, who, by the facts listed in their own accounts, had
nothing to do with the problems of their creepy NGO. I'm pretty sure the UN is
more powerful than Alex Jones. It's not a good look a literal UN propaganda
agency flinging poo at some weirdo in Texas who ultimately hawks water filters
for a living.

4) That NGO probably "means well" but is super creepy!

5) Bill Gates is also well meaning (I was once a subcontractor for his
foundation), but is acting like a grade-A creep. He has arguably done some
fairly evil things both in the past and in the present day. It is terribly
ironic that the man who brought us Microsoft Windows is lecturing us about
viruses. The reaction against him may be unfair and is probably ill informed,
but he should really think about the figure he cuts in the world. Maybe
touting a spooky vaccine global-ID regime isn't a good use of his time. Just a
suggestion!

Oligarchs like Gates are powerful and involved in some incredibly shady stuff.
They should expect no deference from ordinary people, and should work hard for
the approval of the masses. The insane insular arrogance of people like this,
and their hangers on, well, perhaps they should consider why people trust
kooks like Alex Jones more than themselves.

