DeepSummary
This podcast episode examines the emerging use of facial recognition technology in public and commercial spaces, and the tracking and influencing capabilities of the social media platform TikTok. It discusses privacy concerns, First Amendment implications, and the potential for these technologies to enable mass surveillance and manipulation.
The episode features clips from various sources that analyze the vast databases of facial images being compiled by companies like Clearview AI, often without consent. It examines how this technology is being used by law enforcement and retailers, and the risks of false identifications and discrimination against certain demographics.
The episode also delves into TikTok's ability to selectively amplify or suppress certain content to influence public opinion, drawing comparisons to state propaganda machinery. Experts warn about TikTok's data gathering practices and the Chinese government's potential influence over the app, raising national security concerns.
Key Episodes Takeaways
- Facial recognition technology poses significant threats to privacy and civil liberties, enabling mass surveillance and potential misuse by law enforcement and commercial entities.
- TikTok's content amplification algorithms can be leveraged to manipulate public discourse and influence on a societal scale, undermining principles of free speech.
- Both facial recognition and TikTok's capabilities raise national security concerns due to potential access and influence by authoritarian regimes like China.
- The implementations of these technologies often lack transparency, consent from individuals, and adequate safeguards against misuse and discrimination.
- There are growing calls for regulations and limitations on the unfettered proliferation of these powerful surveillance and influence technologies.
- Proponents argue these tools enhance security and advertising capabilities, but critics warn of a 'surveillance capitalism' dystopia devoid of privacy.
- The rise of such technologies forces a re-examination of core democratic principles like privacy and free speech in the digital age.
- The public must weigh perceived benefits against the surrendering of civil liberties and individual autonomy to corporate and government monitoring.
Top Episodes Quotes
- “Clearview AI is a facial recognition technology company. And you know, news surfaced, I think, last year that this company has been surreptitiously scraping billions of images from the Internet to feed an app that it's created.“ by Speaker A
- “What we see with amplificanda is a kind of zero day exploit against the value of free speech, as it was written in 1791, because the chinese government does have influence over TikTok and the algorithm that chooses what goes viral.“ by Speaker A
- “I think anyone who cares about the future of our democracy will understand that we must have absolute and complete accountability at all levels for the attack on the Capitol. That said, what we don't want to see is the January 6 attack being used as a predicate for increased surveillance of black communities, brown communities, muslim communities, and other communities that have been subject to this extensive and unwarranted surveillance.“ by Speaker B
- “There's a very alarming revelation in August by security and privacy researcher Felix Krauss what he discovered is that TikTok is running code that tracks and captures every single keystroke when you're using their in app browser. So that means any search term, your password, credit card information, it's all being tracked by TikTok when you're using the browser built into the app.“ by Speaker A
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Episode Information
Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on Progressive Politics, News, Culture, Economics and Democracy
BestOfTheLeft.com
1/3/23
Air Date 1/3/2023
Today, we take a look at the emerging implementation of facial recognition technology in public and commercial spaces along with the tracking and "amplifagandizing" capabilities of TikTok
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SHOW NOTES
Ch. 1: Twitter, Facial Recognition and the First Amendment - The Lawfare Podcast - Air Date 4-15-21
This week on Arbiters of Truth, the Lawfare Podcast’s miniseries on our online information ecosystem, Evelyn Douek and Quinta Jurecic spoke with Jameel Jaffer and Ramya Krishnan of the Knight First Amendment Institute.
Ch. 2: Addressing the TikTok Threat Part 1 - Your Undivided Attention - Air Date 9-8-22
TikTok, the flagship app of the Chinese company Bytedance, recently surpassed Google and Facebook as the most popular site on the internet in 2021, and is expected to reach more than 1.8 billion users by the end of 2022.
Ch. 3: Privacy, your face and the rise of facial recognition - Life Matters from ABC - Air Date 7-26-22
Several large retailers, including Kmart and Bunnings, already use facial recognition technology in their stores – collecting biometric data that is as unique as a fingerprint – but are customers aware of how their facial data is being captured and used?
Ch. 4: NJ Legal Rights & NYPD's Facial Recognition Technology - The Brian Lehrer Show - Air Date 9-30-22
Alexander Shalom, senior supervising attorney and director of Supreme Court advocacy at the ACLU-NJ, talks about the implications of a case in Hudson County, NJ, where a suspect was identified using the NYPD's facial recognition technology.
Ch. 5: The problem with banning TikTok - Vox - Air Date 8-29-20
TikTok’s in trouble. But so is the internet as we know it.
Ch. 6: Are You Feeding a Powerful Facial Recognition Algorithm? - NOVA PBS Official - Air Date 4-23-21
Facial recognition technology has great potential to help law enforcement identify suspects. But collecting and storing data from online photos has raised concern among critics.
Ch. 7: Addressing the TikTok Threat Part 2 - Your Undivided Attention - Air Date 9-8-22
Ch. 8: Why Facial Recognition Technology Is So Dangerous - Second Thought - Air Date 7-3-20
Government crackdowns, hyper-personalized ads, real-time location tracking of citizens. Mass surveillance is a growing threat in the modern world. In this episode, we'll take a look at why it's so dangerous.
MEMBERS-ONLY BONUS CLIP(S)
Ch. 9: The Real Danger Of ChatGPT - Nerwriter1 - Air Date 12-30-22
The Nerdwriter is a series of video essays about art, culture, politics, philosophy and more.
Ch. 10: Hustle / Grind Alpha Bro vs. Random ChatGPT Guy - Andrew Rousso - Air Date 12-13-22
Inside everyone, there are two wolves but inside me... there are three.
FINAL COMMENTS
Ch. 11: Final comments on the new ad system for the show
MUSIC (Blue Dot Sessions):
- Opening Theme: Loving Acoustic Instrumental by John Douglas OrrÂ
- Voicemail Music:Â Low Key Lost Feeling Electro by Alex Stinnent
- Activism Music: This Fickle World by Theo Bard (https://theobard.bandcamp.com/track/this-fickle-world)
- Closing Music:Â Upbeat Laid Back Indie Rock by Alex Stinnent
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Produced by Jay! Tomlinson
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