Facial Recognition

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Canon’s Facial Recognition Focuses On Friends And Ignores Strangers

10:48PM January 13, 2012 | Jamie Condliffe

We’ve all taken pictures where we’ve accidentally focused on the wrong person: who the hell was that dude in the background, anyway? But facial recognition baked into Canon’s new cameras should mean that doesn’t happen again. More »

Mobile

Unlock Your iPhone Using Your Face

5:00AM January 11, 2012 | Jamie Condliffe

Previously only a feature in Ice Cream Sandwich, a developer has ported the face-detection security tool to iOS: now it’s possible to unlock your iPhone just by showing it your pretty little face. More »

Science

Wasps Recognise Each Other By Their Faces

4:00PM December 3, 2011 | Jesus Diaz

Scientists at the University of Michigan have found something really surprising and remarkable: wasps can recognise each other by looking at their faces. Until know, we thought that only animals like humans or chimps can do this. Not anymore. More »

Software

Police Used Facial Recognition Software To ID Suspects In UK Riots

10:30AM August 16, 2011 | Brent Rose

We recently talked about how facial recognition technology was taking a turn for the scary and was being used to identify people in real life. That terrifying tech has already been used by cops and others in the London riots. More »

Online

Germany Declares Facebook’s Facial Recognition Illegal

4:01AM August 4, 2011 | Sam Biddle

Although we think it’s generally a pretty nifty feature, valid concerns over the misuse of Facebook’s auto-recognition tagging have lead Germany to ban it entirely. That’s right — Facebook in its current state is now illegal. Deep Scheiße, Zuckerberg. More »

Online

Facial Recognition: It’s Not Creepy, So Get Over It

2:00PM July 28, 2011 | Sam Biddle

A rant from Gizmodo US: Facial recognition, like targeted advertising before it, is the internet’s newest bogeyman. Many have an instant aversion to their faces being scanned by a computer. You shouldn’t. With the right caveats, the tech’s like robot vacuums: helpful, not scary. More »

Online

Facebook Makes It Easier To Opt Out Of Facial Recognition

9:34PM July 27, 2011 | Kat Hannaford

Facebook’s facial recognition system was so intrusive, the EU felt it necessary to investigate it for privacy violations. While Facebook has always allowed you to turn it off, it’s always been a bit fiddly — until now. [Reuters]

News

Facial Recognition Screws With The Wrong Man

1:40AM July 20, 2011 | Kat Hannaford

Technology may be a pivot for many of our lives, but it’s not exactly infallible. A Massachusetts man learnt that the hard way, after his drivers licence was flagged as a fake on the police system, due to a facial-recognition error. More »

Online

EU Investigating Facebook’s New Facial Recognition Feature

8:10PM June 9, 2011 | Kat Hannaford

The new facial recognition photo-tagging feature that was rolled out on Facebook this week has got privacy-freaks in a frenzy, but none more so than European Union data-protection regulators, who are investigating it for privacy violations. More »

Software

Eric Schmidt Thinks Facial Recognition Is Very, Very Bad Except Maybe For Famous People

8:50AM May 20, 2011 | Brian Barrett

Former Google CEO—and current Google evangelist—Eric Schmidt made his thoughts on facial recognition very clear yesterday, saying it was “very concerning,” and that Google wouldn’t dream of a database like that. Except they did! In dreamy patent form. More »