3.1 Smart Technology and Dumb Humans
With the increased usage of facial recognition technology, there are growing concerns over abuse and privacy issues which may arise. While the technology is still not perfect - as evidenced by the woman in China who was accused of jaywalking when it was just a photo of her face on a bus - the concern for facial recognition technology is still real and worth taking note of. Earlier this year, police forces in the UK started rolling out the use of facial recognition technology to identify potential suspects. Another more recent example is the use of the technology during a Taylor Swift concert in an attempt to find people who were stalking her.
Concerning news about an Ai which can potentially identify "straight" or "gay" faces is an example of how technology can be abused and cause harm if it falls into the wrong hands, for example in the regime of a country which persecutes LGBT people. An important issue to consider is informed consent - is it okay to monitor people as long as they're told in advance that they will be? Are these technologies able to be completely unbiased in their applications? Or will they inevitably absorb the biases and prejudices of the users and become a tool of oppression?
As mentioned in the previous blog post, a big reason why Google Glass never quite took off was privacy. People don't like knowing that they could be recorded and observed by others without their knowledge. In the age of "Smart-Everything", the toy My Friend Cayla was designed to be the ultimate companion for children. Cayla could listen and respond to questions, and what parents didn't realise was that Cayla stored all the conversations it was having with children. The toy also had a serious security flaw which was exposed by Finn Lützow-Holm Myrstad, an advocate for better digital policies regarding consumer safety. Finn found that one could easily download the My Friend Cayla companion app and communicate with children from outside of the house. This reveal took Cayla off the shelves, and made people realise the dangers of having devices around you which could listen to you.
Finn Lützow-Holm Myrstad also ran an experiment where he and his colleagues printed out the terms and conditions of popular apps found in a regular smartphone, which added up to over 900 pages, and sat down to record how long it would take them to read all of it. The result? 31 hours, 49 minutes, and 11 seconds. The average consumer regularly sells away their rights to privacy for the sake of convenience and entertainment.
So, what can the creative industry do about it? Well for a start, creatives themselves need to be more aware about what rights consumers have, and how to convey that effectively to their users. Secure information storage of user data, encryption, and how to build trust with your users are key skills required in the future of design. Creative could help ensure that information about privacy and terms are conveyed more clearly to users, so that they can see what they're getting, and hold companies accountable by choosing to opt in or out of a service.
Bibliography:
Brown, P. (2018). Blog: Making or selling Internet of Things (IoT) devices? Six reasons you need to be thinking about data protection. [online] Ico.org.uk. Available at: https://ico.org.uk/about-the-ico/news-and-events/blog-making-or-selling-internet-of-things-iot-devices-six-reasons-you-need-to-be-thinking-about-data-protection/ [Accessed 6 Dec. 2018].
Dodd, V. (2018). UK police use of facial recognition technology a failure, says report. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/may/15/uk-police-use-of-facial-recognition-technology-failure [Accessed 6 Dec. 2018].
Dodds, L. (2018). Chinese businesswoman accused of jaywalking after AI camera spots her face on an advert. [online] The Telegraph. Available at: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2018/11/25/chinese-businesswoman-accused-jaywalking-ai-camera-spots-face/ [Accessed 6 Dec. 2018].
Etienne, S. (2018). Taylor Swift tracked stalkers with facial recognition tech at her concert. [online] The Verge. Available at: https://www.theverge.com/2018/12/12/18137984/taylor-swift-facial-recognition-tech-concert-attendees-stalkers [Accessed 13 Dec. 2018].
Jacobs, H. (2018). China's 'Big Brother' surveillance technology isn't nearly as all-seeing as the government wants you to think. [online] Business Insider. Available at: http://uk.businessinsider.com/china-facial-recognition-limitations-2018-7?r=US&IR=T https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2018/11/25/chinese-businesswoman-accused-jaywalking-ai-camera-spots-face/ [Accessed 6 Dec. 2018].
Levin, S. (2018). New AI can work out whether you're gay or straight from a photograph. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/sep/07/new-artificial-intelligence-can-tell-whether-youre-gay-or-straight-from-a-photograph [Accessed 6 Dec. 2018].
Noble, S. and Roberts, S. (2016). Through Google-Colored Glass(es): Design, Emotion, Class, and Wearables as Commodity and Control. [online] Ir.lib.uwo.ca. Available at: https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1013&context=commpub [Accessed 6 Dec. 2018].
TED (2018). How tech companies deceive you into giving up your data and privacy | Finn Lützow-Holm Myrstad. [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4E_1AB1rsSw [Accessed 6 Dec. 2018].
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| Image of woman on a bus that was accused of jaywalking (Dodds, 2018) |
Concerning news about an Ai which can potentially identify "straight" or "gay" faces is an example of how technology can be abused and cause harm if it falls into the wrong hands, for example in the regime of a country which persecutes LGBT people. An important issue to consider is informed consent - is it okay to monitor people as long as they're told in advance that they will be? Are these technologies able to be completely unbiased in their applications? Or will they inevitably absorb the biases and prejudices of the users and become a tool of oppression?
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| Illustrated depiction of facial analysis technology (Alamy, n.d.) |
Finn Lützow-Holm Myrstad also ran an experiment where he and his colleagues printed out the terms and conditions of popular apps found in a regular smartphone, which added up to over 900 pages, and sat down to record how long it would take them to read all of it. The result? 31 hours, 49 minutes, and 11 seconds. The average consumer regularly sells away their rights to privacy for the sake of convenience and entertainment.
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| Screenshot from TED video on online provacy |
So, what can the creative industry do about it? Well for a start, creatives themselves need to be more aware about what rights consumers have, and how to convey that effectively to their users. Secure information storage of user data, encryption, and how to build trust with your users are key skills required in the future of design. Creative could help ensure that information about privacy and terms are conveyed more clearly to users, so that they can see what they're getting, and hold companies accountable by choosing to opt in or out of a service.
Bibliography:
Brown, P. (2018). Blog: Making or selling Internet of Things (IoT) devices? Six reasons you need to be thinking about data protection. [online] Ico.org.uk. Available at: https://ico.org.uk/about-the-ico/news-and-events/blog-making-or-selling-internet-of-things-iot-devices-six-reasons-you-need-to-be-thinking-about-data-protection/ [Accessed 6 Dec. 2018].
Dodd, V. (2018). UK police use of facial recognition technology a failure, says report. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/may/15/uk-police-use-of-facial-recognition-technology-failure [Accessed 6 Dec. 2018].
Dodds, L. (2018). Chinese businesswoman accused of jaywalking after AI camera spots her face on an advert. [online] The Telegraph. Available at: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2018/11/25/chinese-businesswoman-accused-jaywalking-ai-camera-spots-face/ [Accessed 6 Dec. 2018].
Etienne, S. (2018). Taylor Swift tracked stalkers with facial recognition tech at her concert. [online] The Verge. Available at: https://www.theverge.com/2018/12/12/18137984/taylor-swift-facial-recognition-tech-concert-attendees-stalkers [Accessed 13 Dec. 2018].
Jacobs, H. (2018). China's 'Big Brother' surveillance technology isn't nearly as all-seeing as the government wants you to think. [online] Business Insider. Available at: http://uk.businessinsider.com/china-facial-recognition-limitations-2018-7?r=US&IR=T https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2018/11/25/chinese-businesswoman-accused-jaywalking-ai-camera-spots-face/ [Accessed 6 Dec. 2018].
Levin, S. (2018). New AI can work out whether you're gay or straight from a photograph. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/sep/07/new-artificial-intelligence-can-tell-whether-youre-gay-or-straight-from-a-photograph [Accessed 6 Dec. 2018].
Noble, S. and Roberts, S. (2016). Through Google-Colored Glass(es): Design, Emotion, Class, and Wearables as Commodity and Control. [online] Ir.lib.uwo.ca. Available at: https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1013&context=commpub [Accessed 6 Dec. 2018].
TED (2018). How tech companies deceive you into giving up your data and privacy | Finn Lützow-Holm Myrstad. [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4E_1AB1rsSw [Accessed 6 Dec. 2018].
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