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Taylor Swift Used Facial Recognition Tech At Concerts To Spy On Stalkers (boingboing.net)
AmiMoJo shares a report: Taylor Swift used facial recognition technology at her live performances so that technicians running the system could then check those face scans against a private database of her stalkers. There is now big demand for serious security at live events the size of a Taylor Swift concert. There have been so many bombings and mass shootings at music concerts over the past year to even remember without Googling. Fear of being killed at a music concert is something people factor in to the decision to buy tickets and go to live events. The demand for security is real.
This is an outrage!
Taylor Swift used facial recognition technology at her live performances so that technicians running the system could then check those face scans against a private database of her stalkers.
Umm, pretty much anyone who is a Taylor Swift fan willing to actually pay to see her concert would qualify as a stalker - including teenage girls. They bulk of her fan base has an unhealthy obsession with her and her rather uninteresting music. They don't need facial recognition, just a camera or ask for ID at the door. The only question is how creepy are they.
Seriously, if true this is either a star taking herself WAY too seriously or some security asshat who got a new shiny toy to pay with and convinced an overpayed prima-donna to pay for it.
To get into a concert you have to agree to their ToS, which explicitly allows them to record/capture images and likenesses.
It's not spying if you consent.
There have been so many bombings and mass shootings at music concerts over the past year to even remember without Googling
Uh, what? There's only one I could find record of, unless you're going to include gang members shooting each other at nightclubs but that's not really a music concert. And I couldn't find even a single Bombing.
To be fair to Swift, she really does have some crazy stalkers, including people who break into her home and take naps in her living room, harass her family, and legal restraining order type of crazy. Concerts are one of the few openings they have where they can try to get close, so these systems are probably being used for that specific slice of risk. Yes, they can check at the door, but given that many have resorted to criminal actions to try and get close, it wouldn't be surprising if some tried to sneak in through other means. It is after all a private event, private venue, with video consent already given.
That said, it's still creepy, and given how the Chinese have used the system to sweep up enemies of the state, I'm not sure I feel comfortable with this.
Yes, plus I guess it would have to know which gender that teen is identifying as at that particular moment. Programming is hard in 2018.
Exactly. All this will lead to is bad blood that will be hard to just shake off.
That was well over a year ago, which simply reinforces the GP's point.
"National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
There have been so many bombings and mass shootings at music concerts over the past year to even remember without Googling. Fear of being killed at a music concert is something people factor in to the decision to buy tickets and go to live events. The demand for security is real.
While I agree that even one shooting is too many... I look at this and feel like the wording makes it sound like a bombing or shooting at a concert takes place very 2-3 days. I doubt very many people think that if they go to a concert that they are likely be part of a mass murder.
That's an interesting take on how this tech was being used. How about "monitor individuals that might pose a danger to her" eh? We're talking about delusional individuals who have no boundaries, are fixated on her and probably keep diaries of how often she poops. Why try to make Taylor seem like the nefarious one here subbie?
A young attractive woman, who is popular, rich... Who also will play at concerts that is a short drive from where you live, where you can meet in person...
While not my type of music, she is a talented singer, and performer. I can see a lot of people who are stupid enough to think a friendly smile or point at in a concert actually meant something, vs just playing to the audience and being friendly to her fan/revenue base.
There are a lot of stupid guys who misinterpret flirting or just friendliness as opening the door for further relations.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
To be fair to Swift, she really does have some crazy stalkers
So does pretty much every other celebrity of her stature and that is nothing new.
Concerts are one of the few openings they have where they can try to get close
Are you kidding me? If they want to get close there are far better ways to do it than at a concert though I understand some may try. The only difference is that they know her location at least for the duration of the concert but that's not really a novel problem. Big venues like the one's she plays are used to keeping things secure for popular musicians as well as people who are actually important like world leaders. If they do things right there really should be no way for anyone to get close enough to be a real problem.
That said, it's still creepy, and given how the Chinese have used the system to sweep up enemies of the state, I'm not sure I feel comfortable with this.
You should be VERY uncomfortable with this. It will be exceptionally easy for even well intentioned governments and private enterprises to abuse. We have technology and tools that the worst dictators in years gone by could only have dreamed of having and it absolutely will get abused unless we are very careful
There's a reason people put "/sarc" at the end. Sarcasm, like facetiousness, doesn't translate well to print. Your upper post read like a statement of belief.
Ah yes, the Internet. Where all you have to do is type "It was a joke" to remove any culpability for a lack of clear writing or to even reverse the point of a comment.
We're talking men here, not bitches.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
You aren't understanding mine. I'm not suggesting it wasn't noteworthy as such. I'm sure it got it's time in US news cycles, what I was insinuating was with the much higher levels of gun violence and mass killings that America suffers it might not have been as memorable, especially amongst those that probably don't pay too much attention to the news and apparently can't work google well enough to type music bombing like the AC I responded to because it's right there.
It was a pointless jab though and I should've just stopped after the first sentence, you're right about that.
Wanna buy a shirt?
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Concerts with stars often making very explicit moves towards audience is something significantly different from what normal people do but I have a general q. to you: how is one landing at what you describe as 'further relations' w/o any preparatory work called flirt? How does that work?
" Fear of being killed at a music concert is something people factor in to the decision to buy tickets and go to live events. "
Contrary to the hysteria the media likes to cause when such things happen, I don't typically factor in the " am I going to die "
variable when I go somewhere or do something. The media makes it sound like folks are squaring off in the streets daily like
something out of an old Western movie or something.
Truth is, the odds of being involved in a mass shooting are right up there with getting hit by lightning. . . . twice.
( Unless you're a gang-banger in Chicago, then the odds go up a bit )
However, back to the main topic:
I don't really have any issues with her using facial recognition tech as long as that is disclosed at the time you purchase your tickets.
She might find that folks may have enough of an issue with it that they may simply pass on her concert.
Enough folks start passing and she may rethink how she does security.