Borders Nixes Face Recognition 239
jeffy124 writes "Due to recent criticisms surrounding their implementation of face-recognition technology to watch known shoplifters, Borders Bookstores is suspending the approach. This doesn't mean it's gone for good, it may return in the future. They want to resolve the issues brought up by privacy and human-rights activists."
Re:I don't know about Borders... (Score:1, Informative)
There have been many times when I had watched hundreds of dollars of merchandise walk out the door, and was told to do nothing. This is not so strange, actually, in the big corporations.
The thing about Loss Prevention is, or at least it was at my old company, if you know someone is going to shoplift, or is likely to shoplift, keep an eye on them at all times. The professional thieves know when they're being watched, and won't do anything illegal in that case. And yes, usually when a thief hit any of our stores, they were usually sighted coming back. I have no doubt face-recognition would help stop thievery.
Re:Er, no. Er(ror), YES (Score:2, Informative)
link to Human Rights Act of 1998
http://www.legislation.hmso.gov.uk/acts/acts199
you particularly want to check out Sections 1, 2 and 3 language such as (asterisks are mine);
"1(4) The Secretary of State may by order make such amendments to this Act ******as he considers appropriate***** to reflect the effect, in relation to the United Kingdom, of a protocol."
"as he considers appropriate, eh???"
". 2. - (1) A court or tribunal determining a question which has arisen in connection with a Convention right must take into account any-
ah, yes, "..in the opinion of the court or tribunal..."
and my own personal favorite;
". 3. - (1) So far as it is possible to do so, primary legislation and subordinate legislation must be read and given effect in a way which is compatible with the Convention rights."
***love that phrase*** "So far as it is possible to do...*****
and let's not forget the Court of Human Rights own language;
" In accordance with Article 53 of the Convention, the Contracting States ******undertake to abide by the decisions of the Court******. To date States which have been ordered to make payments under Article 50 have consistently done so. The Court now (since October 1991) prescribes, in the operative provisions of the judgment, a period of three months from the date of the decision within which the applicant must be paid and (since January 1996) provides for interest in the event of failure to comply with this time-limit. "
for the non-legally inclined amongst us, all the language in the Convention is non-binding on the EU states, more properly it's as binding as the member states allow/want/let it be...some countries, the Benelux for example, take civil/privacy very, very seriously, some countries, like the UK, who we are speaking of here, are trashing individual rights for collective security
if you've ever carried a bag into a British train station or london hotel lobby, esp when the Provo's are on a tear, you know what i'm talking about.....
let's try this again, both the EU and the UK do NOT have SUPERSEDING and BINDING civil rights ***guarantees*** built into their legal systems, equivalent to those contained in the Bill of Rights addendum to the US Constitution, the Europeans do have many noble statements of intent and/or purpose, none of which have the force of a constitutional guarantee
check it out on the Council of Europe's own main portal;
http://www.coe.int/portal.asp?strScreenType=100
and last, but certainly not least, google the following; Britain's/British Official Secrets Act
Response (Score:2, Informative)
Thank you very much for your expression of concern regarding the Glasgow
Herald article ('Big Borders bookshop is watching you," Sunday 26 August).
In common with most large retailers, we use security cameras throughout our
stores as part of a range of security and loss prevention tools. We have
overt cameras installed in public areas throughout the store, as well as
behind the tills etc., for the protection of staff and customers. We do not
use cameras in any private space.
Borders (UK) Ltd. was approached by Dectel, the British distributors of
SmartFace, to pilot its security system that is designed to identify known
shoplifters. The device scans visitors entering a store and measures the
distances between 80 facial features to create a unique digital "face map."
The digital image is then converted to a mathematical formula and searches
the database for a match. Visionics, the USA manufacturer of this system
reports that images that are not matched on the database are discarded.
Borders was offered a trial of this system in our two London store locations
on Charing Cross Road and Oxford Street. We will not participate in a trial
of the technology and have made no commitment to implement this security
system.
Borders strongly values the human rights and privacy of our staff and our
customers. At Borders, we feel we have an obligation to provide a safe
environment for our customers and staff. Just as important is our obligation
to respond fully and honestly to customers' concerns. We promise to continue
to do so, while offering the best range and service available anywhere.
Thank you for contacting us.