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Posted: 9/8/2001 6:53:04 PM EDT
[url]http://www.howstuffworks.com/facial-recognition.htm[/url]
A ticket to Super Bowl XXXV in Tampa Bay, Florida, didn't just get you a seat at the biggest professional football game of the year. Those who attended the January 2000 event were also part of the largest police lineup ever conducted, although they may not have been aware of it at the time. The Tampa Police Department was testing out a new technology, called FaceIt, that allows snapshots of faces from the crowd to be compared to a database of criminal mugshots.

[img]http://www.howstuffworks.com/gif/facial-recognition-controlroom3.jpg[/img]
The $30,000 system was loaned to the Tampa Police Department for one year. So far, no arrests have been made using the technology. However, the 36 cameras positioned in different areas of downtown Tampa have allowed police to keep a more watchful eye on general activities. This increased surveillance of city residents and tourists has riled privacy rights groups.

People have an amazing ability to recognize and remember thousands of faces. In this edition of HowStuffWorks, you'll learn how computers are turning your face into computer code so it can be compared to thousands, if not millions, of other faces. We'll also look at how facial recognition software is being used in elections, criminal investigations and to secure your personal computer.
Link Posted: 9/8/2001 7:17:37 PM EDT
[#1]
Ok man I don't want to come down on you cuz I know you read the same bad info that ever one dose,but..............

This sys. really is NO BIG DEAL, after it dose it's thing it dumps all the info on a given subject.

If you know any thing about this type of a computer sys. you would not that you jest can't keet photos of ever one in town that way.
The cameras are NOT down town they are in a part of town with a night club about every 2 feet and all on one steet with about 10,000 to 20,000 people per night on weekends.
How the hell can cops keep an eye on all of them?

This really is not the cops keeping tabs on ever one they can it's just a good way to keep the bad guys out of this part of town, the very place they had been killing and robing and getting away befor the cops could get to them.



Link Posted: 9/8/2001 7:24:16 PM EDT
[#2]
It still does feel like an invasion of privacy though...but if you a law abiding citizen like everyone else on this board then you don't have anything to worry about...except they might eventually be able to profile everyone by face rocognition like in [b]Enemy of the State[/b] and know everything about you...just a thought[:\]

Lethal[heavy]
Link Posted: 9/10/2001 4:16:24 PM EDT
[#3]
You forgot that their first arrest was the wrong person... that was funny!
Link Posted: 9/10/2001 5:05:19 PM EDT
[#4]
a2car,

No flame intended, but they have already arrested one person and did a major invasion of personal privacy by allowing the stupid media to get a picture of him and print it in a national publication as being a criminal caught with their system.

How long before they start putting these cameras in our residential niehborhoods " for the good of the children" ?

If Janet reno get elected governer of our state, you can count on these systems popping up all over the place by way of state grant money.

Folks, we have got to draw a line somewhere, and hold fast to defend it.

just my .02
Link Posted: 9/10/2001 6:05:08 PM EDT
[#5]
It is only a short step away from using the system to compare faces to mugshots to using it to compare faces to DMV photos.  I believe the system is already designed to attempt match every person that walks by to their DB of mugshots so the processing power is there.  Sure, the more photos you have to compare to the more power you need, but I don't think it would be impossible.  The bigger obstacle would probably be storage space - I would imagine keeping track of every match of every person would take up what would be an unthinkable amount of storage today, but does anyone else remember paying several dollars per megabyte for say, a 100MB HD not all that long ago?

First it'll just be used to catch the big nasty criminals - they'll probably even make sure the first arrests are murders, rapists, etc. so we all get used to the technology and realize how "good" it is.  Next, they'll probably say it will help us find lost children or somesuch (hmmmm.... "for the children" - where have we heard that before?).  Next, we'll all be standing in line to take photos for our bank - there will be FaceIt or some other competing technology in every single store - ostensibly to verify your identity when using your CC, but I would imagine this will be an invaluable marketing tool for companies as well.

Once they prove how helpful the technology is by catching all the murderers, saving all the children, and ridding the world of credit card fraud, it will be used for more nefarious purposes.  I don't doubt that sometime in the (near?) future there will be a camera on every corner, and every time we pass, a new record will be added to our file.  With the hundreds of millions of people in this country, chances are no one will ever look at your record, but I'd rather not take that chance.  How hard would it be to set up one of these systems in front of your favorite gunshop?

Rocko
Link Posted: 9/10/2001 6:44:40 PM EDT
[#6]
A2car, I was just telling you how it worked. I was not making any kind of statement for or against it. You made that assumtion. All I did was post a link and the links exact words with no comment from myself. But I am glad to see the other comment. I live in San Antonio TX, a very large city. I worked the contract that installed all the underground cable to these cameras in our city. The contract lasted 3 1/2 years. I think I have a good understanding of what the intention of these cameras are for. There are over 1500 cameras in the city of SA. It wasnt till I installed the infastructure that I realized the full potential of what they can do. And it is scary shit to know there in my neighborhood. I dont have to watch for black helicoptors, they already have the camera on me. But thanks for your input.
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