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Vending machines to be removed from UWaterloo campus over facial tech concerns
A southwestern Ontario university says it will be getting rid of more than two dozen vending machines after students raised concerns about facial recognition technology.
www.cp24.com
The issue was flagged by students on a Reddit forum earlier this month, when someone posted a photo of one of the machines displaying an error message apparently related to a facial recognition program.
Well, a proximity sensor could do that. No need for FR to flush a toilet. Or is there!The machines' operator, Adaria Vending Services, told the publication MathNews the technology acts as a motion sensor to know when to activate the screen for purchases.
But why?.. It's a vending machine. You know what's selling and what is not based on your restocking and can adjust accordingly.Invenda, meanwhile, told the publication the machines don't engage in “storage, communication, or transmission of any imagery or personally identifiable information.”
The article notes, however, that a FAQ from Invenda says “only the final data, namely presence of person, estimated age and estimated gender, is collected without any association with an individual.”
That's really all you need to know.