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New Documents Show Amazon’s Face-Scanning Tech For Cops Was A Headache From The Start
Earlier this year, Amazon’s facial recognition tech Rekognition — which can scan photos and videos and match them against databases of faces — faced a flood of criticism from Amazon employees, shareholders, and civil rights activists who argued that its use by government agencies was unethical or even dangerous. That backlash was spurred by an…
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The Migrant Caravan’s Plight Is A Glimpse Of Our Coming Climate Crisis
Right now, some 7200 Central Americans — including many women with small children — are migrating north towards the US in large, openly visible groups called caravans. It’s a dangerous journey that may involve crossing more rivers and encountering human traffickers, but the desperation is real for many communities in Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador…
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Stop Using Blowtorches To Kill Spiders In Your House
While this should seemingly go without saying, it turns out that “kill it with fire” is not a great idea when it comes to ridding your home of pests. Nonetheless, there is no shortage of failed cases of people attempting to kill spiders or insects with blowtorches, and it doesn’t often end well.
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How A 19th-Century Teenager Sparked A Battle Over Who Owns Our Faces
More than a century ago, a teenager named Abigail Roberson had her photo taken at a professional studio in upstate New York. The photo wasn’t particularly scandalous — Roberson is pictured from the shoulders up, looking away from the camera — but it achieved the 1890s version of virality and set off a legal debate…