IP: Borders Books kills face-scanning plan amid criticism

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

> From: "the terminal of Geoff Goodfellow" <geoff () iconia com>
> To: "Dave E-mail Pamphleteer Farber" <farber () cis upenn edu>



> Borders Books kills face-scanning plan amid criticism
>
> By RICK PERERA, IDG NEWS SERVICE
> (August 27, 2001)
> Book shoppers in London can breathe easier: Big Brother isn't lurking
> between the shelves. Not yet, anyway.
>
> Bookstore chain Borders Group Inc. has temporarily suspended a trial plan to
> implement FaceIt face recognition software in two stores in the city,
> pending a review of legal and human rights issues, spokeswoman Jenny Carlen
> said.
>
> The software, sold by Minnetonka, Minn.-based Visionics Corp., fights
> shoplifting by constantly comparing images of shoppers captured by a store
> video camera against a police database of known criminals, according to
> information on Visionics' Web site. If no match is found, the images taken
> in the store are then discarded.
>
> U.K. imaging specialist Dectel Security Ltd. has implemented the system in
> the London borough of Newham, which achieved a 34% reduction in crime in two
> years, according to Visionics. Dectel announced in April that police in
> Birmingham City Centre had also installed the system.
>
> --SNIP--
>
> http://www.computerworld.com/storyba/0,4125,NAV47_STO63359,00.html
>
> =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
> geoff.goodfellow () iconia com, Prague CZ * tel/mobil +420 (0)603 706 558
> "success is getting what you want & happiness is wanting what you get"
> http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/01/biztech/articles/17drop.html



For archives see: http://www.interesting-people.org/