Worldcoin wants to provide ‘proof of personhood’ in an AI-filled future, but critics and governments are unimpressed
A refugee from the Democratic Republic of Congo registers his fingerprints on a biometric machine in Uganda in 2022.
Badru Katumba/AFP via Getty Images
Capturing biometric data helps UN agencies and other groups avoid the risk of fraud and increase efficiency. But the practice is complicated and has created security risks for vulnerable groups.
The technology is currently being trialled outside of Australia. It’s one of the first major attempts to bring it to western markets on a large scale.
Beginning this summer, you might need to upload a selfie and a photo ID to a private company, ID.me, if you want to file your taxes online.
Oscar Wong/Moment via Getty Images
Federal and state governments are turning to a facial recognition company to ensure that people accessing services are who they say they are. The move promises to cut down on fraud, but at what cost?
Government agencies are increasingly using facial recognition technology, including through security cameras like this one being installed on the Lincoln Memorial in 2019.
Mark Wilson/Getty Images
Politicians of all stripes, computer professionals and even big-tech executives are calling on government to hit the brakes on using these algorithms. The feds are hitting the gas.
A U.S. Army soldier scans the irises of an Afghan civilian in 2012 as part of an effort by the military to collect biometric information from much of the Afghan population.
Jose Cabezas/AFP via GettyImages
The potential failure of the US military to protect information that can identify Afghan citizens raises questions about whether and how biometric data should be collected in war zones.
Taliban fighters stand guard at a checkpoint in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Aug. 18, 2021.
(AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)
The U.S. military collected biometric data on Afghan civilians. The information may have fallen into the hands of the Taliban, highlighting why collecting the data is too risky in the first place.
The new EU regulation is about to change the way we do artificial intelligence. The United Nations needs to follow suit.
Vaccine passports may soon be required for travelling amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Like biometrics, they’ll likely become a permanent part of our daily lives — and there’s barely been any debate about them.
(AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
COVID-19 vaccine passports are being presented as a relatively simple technological solution to our current travel woes. But meaningful public debate about their merits and problems is essential.
CCTV technology has evolved in the decades since it was first introduced.
Orso/Shutterstock
Two-factor authentication is certainly an added layer of security as we traverse the online world. But it comes in various forms, and they’re not all equally protective.
The more we use facial recognition, the more we see its limits and its risks.
Monaco and Japan have some of the highest life expectancies in the world. But calculating an individual’s life expectancy will require taking data analysis several steps further.
SHUTTERSTOCK
Predicting life expectancy remains in the realm of science fiction, but it may soon be possible. Are we prepared for such information? And who else would benefit from this knowledge?
Even though passcode options include swipe patterns and long passwords, many users still use easy 4-digit PINs. This is because people are often lulled into a false sense of security when they use fingerprint login.
SHUTTERSTOCK
While the data from a fingerprint is very hard to retrieve, cybercriminals can get around biometric technology in various ways. And having a weak passcode is like giving them a hall pass.