Not sure about Google

[Lamplighter]

Originally Posted by Undertoad

You have linked to an explanation of facial recognition software
on the iPhone and told us that this suggests YouTube is a Problem... why?

It appears to be because somebody filmed the explanation,
and put that video on YouTube.

This is paranoia out of ignorance, and demonstrates your lack of understanding
so thoroughly that it's painful to point it out, like I'm being harsh on you.

UT, Do you mean ignorance of the technical aspects of facial recognition software,
or ignorance of the abuse that might result from Google's new policies?
I am certainly ignorant of the former, but I'll argue the latter.

I feel several issues were revealed in that link.
Primarily that law enforcement will undoubtly be using the software in the field - without warrants - for "identification".
Thus "mug shots" will permanently accumulate of completely innocent individuals.
Likewise, the existing database of YouTube will no longer be under the control of the User, and civil rights will be out the window.

Here is another example... this one focused on Google's Picasa, but it the same for YouTube

Cyberbullying Research Center
Sameer
10/7/2008

<snip> We’ve also pointed out how individuals can unwittingly open their friends
up to victimization by posting or revealing personal information or pictures about them to social networking sites.
This will continue to be a problem, particularly with new developments in technology.

One example that stands out in my mind is Google’s new version of Picasa, their photo-editing and sharing software.
They’ve implemented a facial recognition system that can analyze one picture
and then scan for matches across hundreds or millions of others.

As an innocuous example, I might want to upload a picture of myself, tag it as “Sameer Hinduja,”
and then allow the software to be continually scanning other photo albums/galleries (e.g., Picasa or Flickr)
to see if anyone else might have uploaded another picture of me.

Apart from visual confirmation (when I look and verify if the person in those other pictures is, in fact, me),
further corroboration can be made if they are tagged as well (either with my name or one of my fun nicknames!).

Extending this logic, it is easy to envision how someone with malicious or perverse intentions
could use this technology to stalk someone else, or even create a dossier of knowledge
about that person (based on the pictures) useful for gaining their trust or developing a rapport.

I am a bit concerned. And this is only the beginning as we move forward in this increasingly panoptic digital age.

The issue is NOT the technical aspects of facial recognitions software.
Nor is the issue a matter of whether or not law enforcement has the right to identify a person.

The issue is the change in control of the information obtained by Google
... without the consent of the User.

[glatt]

Originally Posted by Lamplighter

As an innocuous example, I might want to upload a picture of myself, tag it as “Sameer Hinduja,”
and then allow the software to be continually scanning other photo albums/galleries (e.g., Picasa or Flickr)
to see if anyone else might have uploaded another picture of me.

Apart from visual confirmation (when I look and verify if the person in those other pictures is, in fact, me),
further corroboration can be made if they are tagged as well (either with my name or one of my fun nicknames!).

OK, this tidbit from that article really interested me. It's the ultimate vanity search, and I really want to do it. I would love to see what other pictures of me are out there in the world. I'm certain they exist. I've been to enough tourist destinations and gotten in front of enough people taking pictures of the White House or whatever that I'm sure strangers have my picture. I downloaded the most recent version of Picassa and can't figure out how to do what they are talking about. Picassa can scan the images on my computer and also in my web albums for pictures of me. But how do I get it to scan Flickr or strangers' Picassa albums? Or is he saying a hacker could do that?

I want my ultimate vanity search.