Privacy

31913 readers

573 users here now

A place to discuss privacy and freedom in the digital world.

Privacy has become a very important issue in modern society, with companies and governments constantly abusing their power, more and more people are waking up to the importance of digital privacy.

In this community everyone is welcome to post links and discuss topics related to privacy.

Some Rules

Posting a link to a website containing tracking isn't great, if contents of the website are behind a paywall maybe copy them into the post
Don't promote proprietary software
Try to keep things on topic
If you have a question, please try searching for previous discussions, maybe it has already been answered
Reposts are fine, but should have at least a couple of weeks in between so that the post can reach a new audience
Be nice :)

Related communities

Chat rooms

[Matrix/Element]Dead
Discord

much thanks to @gary_host_laptop for the logo design :)

founded 5 years ago

MODERATORS

[email protected]

823

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

submitted 8 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

151 comments fedilink hide all child comments

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.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] [email protected] 22 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

Legality can change, that's literally what we're talking about. It's legal now, it doesn't have to be.

Also just declare that cops don't have a right to privacy. Easy.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

You are so right. I'm dumbfounded by how apathetic Americans are when it comes to politics. The idea of making the change you want to see, seems like a foreign concept. This will bring in a lot of downvotes, but I'd be happy to find some kind of online community that excludes Americans. And, I don't mean by nationality, or even geography. Just this... acceptance of political depravity. In the US, you get the choice between "bat shit insane". And, if don't like that, you can vote Republican instead, which is orders of magnitude worse, with layers of vile shit. I'm tired. Most problems are so simple to solve. But the arguments are always presented between two things that don't matter.

Good luck. I'm gonna see if there is a lemmy community that actively blocks "American mentality". Which is hilarious, because a lot of Americans express that lemmy is "extremely communist / anti capitalist" etc. Which is just what "common sense" looks like to Americans.