The Facial-Recognition Sham
10 days ago
- #surveillance
- #privacy
- #online-safety
- Tea Dating Advice, an app promising privacy for women, suffered two major security breaches, leaking 70,000 user images and over 1 million private messages.
- Despite claims of strict verification, a middle-aged man easily bypassed Tea's security by using a generic photo of a woman, raising concerns about the app's safety measures.
- The UK's Online Safety Act and similar US proposals like KOSA mandate age verification, often requiring invasive methods like facial recognition or government IDs, which can be circumvented.
- Age-verification laws in states like Utah and Louisiana risk being used to block LGBTQ content and medically accurate information under the guise of protecting children.
- New York's 'Safe for Kids Act' aims to protect teens from social media toxicity but may rely on flawed verification technologies like facial recognition.
- Broad safety measures applicable to all users, regardless of age, could protect privacy while addressing online harms without invasive surveillance.
- Sacrificing anonymity for safety risks giving governments and corporations unprecedented power to track online activities, mirroring surveillance systems in authoritarian regimes.