A set of smart vending machines at the University of Waterloo is expected to be removed from campus after students raised privacy concerns about their software.
The machines have M&M artwork on them and sell chocolate and other candy. They are located throughout campus, including in the Modern Languages building and Hagey Hall.
Earlier this month, a student noticed an error message on one of the machines in the Modern Languages building. It appeared to indicate there was a problem with a facial recognition application.
“We wouldn’t have known if it weren’t for the application error. There’s no warning here,” said River Stanley, a fourth-year student, who investigated the machines for an article in the university publication, mathNEWS.
It gets worse :/
I looked up the brand (Invenda). Their PDF includes “using AI”, “measuring foot traffic”, and gathering “gender/age/etc” e.g. facial recognition to estimate a persons age and gender
And in terms of “stored locally” this is straight from their website
The machine comes with a “brain” – Invenda OS – and is connected to the Invenda Cloud, which allows you to manage it remotely and gather valuable environmental, consumer and transactional data. The device can be branded according to your requirements to further enhance your brand presence.
The marketing also so fricken backwards that it reads like satire:
For a consumer, there’s no greater comfort than shopping pressure-free. Invenda Wallet allows consumers to browse, select and pay for products leisurely and privately 🤦♂️
When did it become ok for people to be violated so profusely without any consequence?
When society started paying for convenience?
At the dawn of civilization? Lol
Prostitutes, the world’s oldest profession, could be argued to be paying for convenience.
People also probably paid for cooked meals pretty early in civilization.
And you can bet your ass that prostitutes sold information about their clients, if offered any compnsation for it. :)
Why in the ever living hell would a vending machine need local-only facial recognition…
Why the living hell would anyone agree to develop this? What douchbags are doing that job?
I’d do that. Privacy should not exist. Everything must be public and available to everyone. Every person should have a tracking implant and anyone should be able to access it.
/s
Not /s. Privacy is a foreign concept for humans, invented a bit over a century ago. Privacy is a root cause of many social problems in our day and age.
Every person should have a tracking implant and anyone should be able to access it.
In that case, I would guess that you’re a man, and one who has never had a stalker.
Privacy is what enables stalkers.
You’re fucking unhinged, mate.
