Privacy

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'Facial recognition' error message on vending machine sparks concern at University of Waterloo (kitchener.ctvnews.ca)

submitted 9 months ago by Ninjazzon@infosec.pub to c/privacy@lemmy.ml

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A set of smart vending machines at the University of Waterloo is expected to be removed from campus after students raised privacy concerns about their software.

The machines have M&M artwork on them and sell chocolate and other candy. They are located throughout campus, including in the Modern Languages building and Hagey Hall.

Earlier this month, a student noticed an error message on one of the machines in the Modern Languages building. It appeared to indicate there was a problem with a facial recognition application.

"We wouldn't have known if it weren't for the application error. There's no warning here," said River Stanley, a fourth-year student, who investigated the machines for an article in the university publication, mathNEWS.

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[–] MajorSauce@sh.itjust.works 42 points 9 months ago (3 children)

While I have no idea how much a computerized vending machine costs, I found this article about a age/gender classifier that runs on a Raspberry Pi 4.

Looking at the machine's big touchscreen, I think this classifier would fit on the SBC or require a relatively small upgrade.

[–] CaptDust@sh.itjust.works 12 points 9 months ago

Yikes, smh... Yep that'll do it. I hate this timeline.

[–] LWD@lemm.ee 8 points 9 months ago

Same Raspberry Pi foundation that hired a cop with a background in surveillance tech as their "resident maker"?

[–] Flumpkin@slrpnk.net 5 points 9 months ago

The error message says ".exe" and looks like a dot net namespace.