Posted on 03/01/2010 6:54:05 AM PST by null and void
Step 1 ... point phone at someone and press 'recognise'
Step 2 ... woman's name appears on screen
Step 3 ... press screen and personal details appear
A CAMERAPHONE application that finds names and addresses of total STRANGERS was blasted as a "stalker's dream" last night.
The facial recognition "app" instantly identifies snaps by matching them to photos on websites like Facebook and Twitter, where personal info is accessed.
Horrified security experts claim BURGLARS taking secret snaps of revellers could find out their addresses.
Unsuspecting strangers fooling around on nights out could also fall prey to BLACKMAIL.
And women could be stalked by PERVERTS.
Simon Davies, of Privacy International, slammed the "Recognizr" gizmo as an "atrocious invasion".
He warned: "It takes the dangers that already exist and increases them infinitely."
Dr Ian Brown, of the Oxford Internet Institute, said: "A guy could take a picture of a girl in a bar and find out all sorts of information."
The "app" is being developed by Swedish software firm The Astonishing Tribe. They were unavailable for comment.
Tom Gaffney, of software security experts F-Secure, said: "This app looks like it could be a stalker's dream."
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Sidebar story:
Gear wipes rats' texts
LOVE rats like Tiger Woods and Ashley Cole could have dodged their scandals with new software that destroys text messages once they are read.
Senders using TigerText set a time limit for their messages. Once that is up, the texts are wiped from the original phone, the receiving phone, and the server.
TigerText has been launched in America and arrives in Britain next month. Inventor Jeffrey Evans said: "Some things people say can come back to haunt them."
TigerText, which costs £1.60 a month, currently works only with Apple iPhones with the application installed.
Mr Evans claimed the name was chosen before the Woods sex scandal emerged.
When I was a kid in the 70's, I rode my bike all over town, I was out of the house as soon as I got home from school, and all I had to worry about was being home by 6:00 to have dinner with my family. Then, after dinner, I went out again. Darkness wasn't dangerous -- why would it be??
Totally different world now.
Only Chloe on "24" has this power and she's fictional with supercomputers that only have to search databases filled with images of 12 muslim and 22 Eastern European male actors.
If it's looking at sites like Facebook, it will only be able to search pictures already available to the user -- anyone who's even marginally competent at using the right Facebook settings won't be allowing strangers to view their pictures.
Just because we are technologically able, does that mean we must?
They scan our body parts in airports and force us to wear mushrooms on our heads to skate or ride a bicycle. Any infraction in planes is used as an excuse to take more of our liberties, but sex offenders roam free, pillage, and plunder, despite being registered with the police. Their commission of offenses results in no new laws or restrictions.
Yes, Brave New World it is.
Getting really sick of the "Look at me" culture.
WE’RE ALL GONNA DIE!
The point you are missing is that (in our current society)the rights of the guilty/accused are protected, while the rights of the law-abiding are not.....
hh
I’m not saying it can’t work, but seriously with millions of people on facebook... of course if you snap someones picture you can limit the search to people who have listed the town you are in as your home town and this would cut down on the number of pictures needed to be downloaded and compared, but its still a heavily networked and intensive process... It may work, but I would think in a large city you could be talking hours if not days for this to work... Of course, to a stalker it may be worth it.
I think we can.
It wouldn't be quick, easy or cheap, but it is possible and it is worth doing.
No. Just because it's technologically possible means we will.
You might want to share this with some folks we know.
Yeah.
Every single one of us.
Eventually. Of something.
These conservatives aren't named LeRoy or Shaniqua and they don't live in the hood, and they didn't drop out in 8th grade, and they do know who their Daddy is.
But the mentality of "gimme" is now endemic even among conservatives.
“Darkness wasn’t dangerous — why would it be??”
Quite aside from computer aps, there are thermal aps. I’ve been reading recent “spy” novels. They can now use satellite thermal imaging to track people in the dark, see if people are in a building, etc. WE CAN’T HIDE ANYWHERE.
We can hide everywhere.
Check your premises.
Typical British tabloid hype.
Very doubtful this app even works. It can only find your picture if it is fairly easily accessible.
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