Show us your face: New Orleans PD reportedly got secret facial recognition alerts

Since early 2023, facial recognition cameras run by a private nonprofit have scanned New Orleans visitors and residents and quietly alerted police, sidestepping oversight and potentially violating city law, according to a new report. In 2022, the Big Easy's city government relaxed its ban on the use of facial recognition …

[Potemkine!]

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes ?

- Who is behind 'Project Nola' ?

- Did NOPD lie ?

- When the police does illegal things, can the citizen worry ?

[Bilby]

Re: Quis custodiet ipsos custodes ?

"When the police does illegal things, can the citizen worry ?"

- Not unless they get permission first. You have been warned.

[Anonymous Coward]

"Person of Interest"

It is slightly ironic that here in the UK, the TV series by that name is being re-broadast on Friday evenings.

It predicted this very thing.

Just one more reason not to go anywhere. It won't matter if you are innocent, by the time that the Cops/DOJ etc find out you will have been disappeared.

1984 was a warning, not a guidebook.

[Anonymous Coward]

is this normal in the UK?

how's it working out there? do you like the results? should we embrace or fight it?

[Yet Another Anonymous coward]

Re: is this normal in the UK?

It worked great, it identified 100% of black people at the Nottingham Hill Carnival as 'of interwst' to the police.

Which just shows how involved in the local community the police are.

[Decay]

Re: is this normal in the UK?

So working as designed? Now to tune it a bit more.

# AI Facial Recognition: Community Trust Edition™

# Powered by Totally Not Bias Inc.

#

def identify_suspect(person):

"""

Determine if a person is suspicious using absolutely indefensible heuristics.

"""

#

suspicious_score = 0

#

# Funny headwear: now aggressively inclusive of ignorance

if person.headwear.lower() in [

"turban", # Sikh headwear

"kippah", "yarmulke", # Jewish headwear

"keffiyeh", "ghutra", "agal", # Middle Eastern headwear

"fez", "top hat", "viking helmet", "tin foil", "safety cone"

]:

print(f"[!] Funny headwear detected: {person.headwear}")

suspicious_score += 3

#

if person.gender == "male" and person.outfit.lower() in ["thobe", "robe", "flowy tunic"]:

print(f"[!] Men in culturally confusing garments (as judged by people who wear beige tactical pants): {person.outfit}")

suspicious_score += 3

#

if person.vibe == "dodgy":

print("[!] Vibe check failed: Dodgy")

suspicious_score += 4

#

if person.match_against("people_we_dont_like_the_look_of"):

print("[!] Offense: Possessing a face that upsets the algorithm")

suspicious_score += 2

#

if person.group in ["them", "those people", "other"]:

print(f"[!] Belongs to 'Them People' group: {person.group}")

suspicious_score += 3

#

if person.id == "that_guy_the_commissioners_wife_smiled_at_once":

print("[!] Personal grudge match engaged")

suspicious_score += 10

#

if person.uniform != "police":

print("[!] No uniform detected, how dare they walk freely")

suspicious_score += 1

#

if suspicious_score >= 7:

print(f"ALERT: {person.name} marked as suspicious. Dispatch drones and fill out paperwork later.")

return True

else:

print(f"{person.name} judged non-threatening by the All-Seeing Algorithm. For now.")

return False

#

#

# Example target for arbitrary profiling

class Person:

def __init__(self, name, headwear, gender, outfit, vibe, group, id, uniform):

self.name = name

self.headwear = headwear

self.gender = gender

self.outfit = outfit

self.vibe = vibe

self.group = group

self.id = id

self.uniform = uniform

#

def match_against(self, list_name):

return list_name == "people_we_dont_like_the_look_of" and self.name.startswith("J")

#

# Demonstration of misguided techno-authority

subject = Person(

name="Yousef",

headwear="keffiyeh",

gender="male",

outfit="thobe",

vibe="dodgy",

group="them",

id="that_guy_the_commissioners_wife_smiled_at_once",

uniform="civilian"

)

#

identify_suspect(subject)

[Decay]

No. Never. Surely not. If only we had foreseen such an eventuality and taken steps. Some days I despair, the rest I weep.

[Yet Another Anonymous coward]

Not facial recognition

If it simply measures skin tone = therefore not a civil liberties issue