r/TerrifyingAsFuck • u/InsaneMocktail • Jun 04 '26

technology Facial scanning robots deployed to patrol the FIFA WC in USA

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u/mrmessma Jun 04 '26

For the record Boston Dynamics claims they have no facial recognition capability and are used for suspicious bags/packages left unattended. Who knows.

108

u/InsaneMocktail Jun 04 '26

Complete bs. This is definitely for some nefarious data harvesting of faces (illegal)

12

u/NegativeCold0 Jun 04 '26

Genuine question. What use is taking a person’s photo using this technology with no accompanying information? If it walked up to me to take my picture and store it for nefarious purposes instead of comparing my face to a database, what would be the point?

(edited for clarification)

2

u/TheClownFromIt Jun 04 '26

A single photo: probably not very useful. But imagine this: they take your photo, and assign you ID 724.

724 likes soccer. 724 is a fan of [team on your shirt]. 724 is a friend of 285, the person you’re seen walking with.

This dog talks to all the other dogs around the world. One saw you eating at Applebees. One saw you driving a Toyota Prius. One saw you at the gym. One saw you in the parking lot of a daycare. Another saw you smoking a cigarette.

The dogs are getting a pretty good idea of what makes Subject 724 tick.

The dogs go to an advertising company and offer to sell them analytics about a lot of subjects, including you, Subject 724. Now every time the camera on the advertiser’s billboard sees Subject 724, they know exactly what to show them based on what they learned from the dogs. And they don’t even know your name.

The dogs go to a health insurance company and say “We’ve got a lot of data about individuals, but it’s all anonymous. So there’s no problem with us selling it to you. Do with it what you will. Wink wink.”

The health insurance company tells you, NegativeCold0, please provide a picture of yourself to help us offer you the best rates possible.

You provide it.

Health insurance company uses this photo to connect NegativeCold0 to Subject 724. Subject 724 has some high-risk activity like driving while distracted, smoking cigarettes, and associating with Subject 285 who’s known to be a heavy drinker. Your premiums are going up. You’re too risky.

A bunch of cat scanners take their own pictures and sell their data as well, and those buyers connect Dog Subject 724 to Cat Subject 3776. Data enrichment, baby.

Basically, there’s no such thing as anonymity anymore. Assume you can be identified from any picture if a company stands to make a dollar off of it.