Face ID is trending so I suppose now is a good moment to tell people not to use it.
1) normalizes biometric surveillance
2) weaker security than a passcode
3) there is legal precedent that cops can't force you to give you password, but can unlock using Face ID or thumbprint
Apple (ostensibly) stores your biometric data directly on your device, which makes it much more secure than, for example, a cloud based banking service with a facial recognition login, but in the end it's still normalizing the practice of letting corporations scan your face.
But to me this is less of a tech security issue and more of a basic common sense issue. If your stalker, or a cop, or your boss, or your neighbor's kid grabs your phone from you do you want them to be able to unlock it just by holding it up to your face? How is that security?
If you have an 11+ digit passcode on your phone with letters and numbers it is EXTREMELY difficult (though not impossible) for anyone, even a government, to unlock it. Heck even a four digit pin is more secure than face rec, which can sometimes be tricked with ...a printed photo
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Lol at @SenatorCantwell who apparently doesn't even know what bill they are voting on today. She called it the "Kids Online Privacy Act," which is extra ironic since this bill will take away kids privacy rather than enhancing it.
@SenatorCantwell .@SenTedCruz pushing for #KOSA to include pre-emption, because he loves corporations even more than he hates gay people, and wants to help kill off state privacy bills like the #CCPA. Ironically this would also break stupid state bills like the Utah bill.
While politicians are racing ahead with proposals based on the premise that simply encountering content on social media is causing ... harms, the APA notes that the actual research is far less conclusive and far more nuanced than lawmakers’ rhetoric washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/…
In this new report, the APA also specifically note that there is a significant lack of research on how young people from marginalized communities (like Black and brown kids and LGBTQ kids) experience social media and associated benefits and harms.
That gap is dangerous, and we applaud the APA’s call for further research in this area. The reality is that many proposals for regulating social media will make some kids safer while making other kids less safe.
URGENT: We've just heard that @SenBlumenthal and @MarshaBlackburn plan to reintroduce the controversial Kids Online Safety Act (#KOSA) tomorrow.
They will say that they've engaged with LGBTQ groups (true) and addressed all concerns with the bill (NOT TRUE!!!)
Here's what's up:
When #KOSA was first introduced more than 100 human rights and LGBTQ organizations signed on to a letter that we organized explaining how this bill would be a disaster for LGBTQ rights, free expression, and kids safety. cnbc.com/2022/11/28/kid…
Realizing they had a problem @SenBlumenthal staff basically went behind the backs of the folks who organized that letter (mostly trans people with significant expertise in content moderation, tech policy, algorithmic harm, etc) and met with several LGBTQ groups without us.
Has anyone done a deep dive on the privacy and security implications of Netflix fingerprinting your home WiFi Network and essentially creating a record of when you are home or not … just to crack down on password sharing?
Oops, I was like genuinely asking not trying to do numbers but here we are. A reporter reached out to me about my thoughts on this and I'm still formulating but here's what I've got:
I mean in some ways there's nothing super unique about what Netflix is doing. Most websites you visit will know your IP address, rough location, what browser or OS you're using, etc.
weird to me how many organizations that say they want to "rid the Internet of disinformation" never seem to say anything about the fact that police routinely lie as a matter of practice, and that crime rates and statistics in the US are essentially a giant disinfo campaign 🤔
it's just funny to me that an entire industry has formed around the idea that people lying on the Internet is the greatest threat that our society faces, but it willfully refuses to call out the biggest source of lies because it's looking to those same systems to stop the lies
been reading @prisonculture and thinking through what an abolitionist lens on disinformation looks like. it's so far from the current way most mainstream progressive organizations are thinking through this issue: looking to more censorship & surveillance and policing as solutions
Madison Square Garden used facial recognition to identify and stop a mom from attending a Christmas show with her kid because she's an attorney at a firm who is engaged in litigation with them.
This is exactly why it is NOT ENOUGH to just ban government and law enforcement use of facial recognition and biometric surveillance. There are so many ways private corporations and even individuals can abuse this tech. It should be banned for all commercial use & public use.
Facial recognition surveillance should be banned in all "places of public accommodation" as defined by the ADA. Portland, OR already passed a citywide ordinance that does this. We need to recreate that at the Federal level and then make this a global norm fightfortheftr.medium.com/why-we-absolut…