NYC Subway Denies Using 'Real-Time Face Recognition Screens' in Times Square (theverge.com) 41
The New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority has denied suggestions that it's putting facial recognition cameras in the subway, saying that a trick designed to scare fare-dodgers was misinterpreted. From a report: "There is no capability to recognize or identify individuals and absolutely no plan" to do so with NYC subway cameras, says MTA spokesperson Maxwell Young. Young was responding to a photo taken in the Times Square subway station by New York Times analyst Alice Fung, which shows a prominently placed monitor with the words "RECORDING IN PROGRESS" and "Please Pay Your Fare" superimposed on a video feed. "Hey @MTA, who are you sharing the recordings with?" Fung asked. The monitor featured the name Wisenet, a security company that prominently advertises facial recognition capabilities, and the video feed traced squares around subjects' faces.
[...] Young says that the recordings aren't being monitored to identify individuals in the footage, though. "There is absolutely no facial recognition component to these cameras, no facial recognition software, or anything else that could be used to automatically identify people in any way, and we have no plans to add facial recognition software to these cameras in the future," he tells The Verge. "These cameras are purely for the purpose of deterring fare evasion -- if you see yourself on a monitor, you're less likely to evade the fare."
[...] Young says that the recordings aren't being monitored to identify individuals in the footage, though. "There is absolutely no facial recognition component to these cameras, no facial recognition software, or anything else that could be used to automatically identify people in any way, and we have no plans to add facial recognition software to these cameras in the future," he tells The Verge. "These cameras are purely for the purpose of deterring fare evasion -- if you see yourself on a monitor, you're less likely to evade the fare."
I saw a press conference about it. (Score:4, Funny)
Sounds like government dweeb double speak (Score:5, Insightful)
So if the idea is"if you see yourself on a monitor, you're less likely to evade the fare" why are they making recordings?
Duh! we could never run those recordings through face recognition software! Trust Us!
mmmmmm something tells me not to trust them!
Just my 2 cents
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Maybe this will help you understand: "The MTA has singled out turnstile-jumping and other fare evasion tactics as a major factor in the subway’s financial problems...a combination of factors may have led to higher levels of evasion — including a reduction of agents in subway stations, a decision to stop criminally prosecuting many offenders, and a rising frustration with delays and crowding on the subway."
Fare evasion is a problem contributing to the financial woes of the MTA. However, NYC, like
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An "automatic" system would also reconcile every person who entered the USA via a bus, port, airport, train and their approved date to return to their own nation.
Manual recognition is more an almost realtime question of the system to find people in reported clothing in a area.
The difference is database access at a city/state/federal/international level.
A city could load in every dr
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"Is that why people still prefer stick shift?"
No, some people actually enjoy driving, and so like to change the gears manually so as to enjoy the process of matching road speed with engine rpm and get a sense of pleasurable satisfaction from a simple but challenging task done well as they drive to/from work (or anywhere else for that matter).
You don't drive an automatic car, you simply steer them.
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You don't drive an automatic car, you simply steer them.
The term "drive" comes from giving direction to horses pulling your carriage. Your instruction to speed up and slow down little different than changes in pressure on a pedal.
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Manual facial recognition is fine?
No, get your hands off my face. Try analog optical recognition.
Vancouver Seattle LA all doing it (Score:2)
They're lying to you about NYC.
Oh, and yes, we are monitoring all the cell communications at Mar-a-Lago and in DC, and we're lying to you about that too.
uh-huh (Score:2)
After multiple international attacks on public transportation venues, there's no chance it would be deemed national security-worthy to monitor, in every way possible, the transportation of choice for the majority of the population of the modern world's Rome.
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Oh somebody got their Moroccan panties in a wad!
I hope I speak for the majority when I say that the panties themselves are much more important than their national origin.
Don't worry, panty-boy you won't get what's coming to you
Thank goodness.
Didn't they just undermine the whole effort? (Score:2)
So by admitting the cameras supposedly warned of by the posters have no effect (The cameras! They do nothing!), why would they continue to deter fare jumpers (if they ever did)?
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1. set up cameras but do not turn on the FR software!
2. reveal that they are doing nothing!
3. wait for PR storm to die down
4. start running the software that wasn't running before!
5. send out the tickets to the people who jump toll because they think the cameras are useless!
6. Profit!