If you missed the recent report by 60 Minutes, this is very much worth watching. Facial recognition technologies is growing quickly 
and getting more accurate all the time. With using 3D modeling, matches are made to find the identity of individuals. “Faceprint” is the new word to be aware of. As pointed out the technologies need large data bases in order to work. There is no regulation on companies using the technology. The scientist who created the technology is even worried about the misuse by companies. He feels he created a “monster” now as the technology moves forward.
Big business is using it and cashing in as there are rules for government for non use by the US has no rules that pertain to companies. I said a while back relative to privacy that privacy laws do not contain an avenue 
of IT infrastructure with rules lined out, it will fail and that’s exactly what we have here with all the feeble attempts to create consumers privacy laws with any kind of data, medical and otherwise and HIPAA offers little help sometimes and still remains in a silo at HHS. Seniors are also big targets of the billion dollar profit data selling business. This has been a long time campaign here at the Medical Quack and it was Chapter 17 of my series of posts called “The Attack of the Killer Algorithms” back in February of 2012 and when you add faceprints to the entire scenario, this means even more profits for companies who want to mine, query and resell your data. It’s the same old story with regulators being behind the times with no clue on how to regulate as they don’t understand it and seem to make no efforts either.
Apple, Google and Facebook use faceprints and we know they all collect data so add faceprints to data and even richer information is available for query, matching and selling. Companies are now working to find counter measures to avoid being “tagged”. Watch the video where the software recognizes all your preferences and location and sends you a message using Facebook. Will you trade your privacy for a diet coke? What benefits are consumers getting, none but the profits grow for companies and banks. When you read the link below you can see how health insurers are buying up data from banks relative to consumer purchases so how much data is here, we don’t know and does it include a “faceprint” as well?
Insurance Companies Are Buying Up Consumer Spending Data-Time is Here to License and Tax the Data Sellers-As Insurers Sell Tons of Data, Gets Flawed Data When Data Buyers Uses Out of Context Too
This is also where data and information can be used out of context to profit as well and as I said a while back it’s a huge discriminatory practice against consumers as it will get tweaked for profit ad models are created that may not be accurate but rather make money with no concern for what happens to the end consumer. Those talented in this area, Quants, are also concerned too as they do not want to be at the root of some of the items created that do attack consumers and have come up with their own codes of ethics as well as they too are in here as consumers and know how the data mechanics work, they are the talented ones that make billions for big corporations and banks. See the tweet below on proprietary algorithms and it’s true as nobody is minding the store as we don’t seem to have enough talent in DC to understand how all of this is working. The link below also has a number of big companies wondering what to do with big data as well and listen to how they speak out on trying to find “real” value.
Big Data/Analytics If Used Out of Context and Without True Values Stand To Be A Huge Discriminatory Practice Against Consumers–More Honest Data Scientists Needed to Formulate Accuracy/Value To Keep Algo Duping For Profit Out of the Game
Again when you watch the video you can see, depending on what data base is connected, even a social security number can be found on you. Now you take this data and query it with other data bases and who knows what’s being sold. Again with no mode of operation to identify who sells data and what kind of data to who, this is the absolute wild west here. Facebook is mentioned many times as the data base of choice. Even if you did not put your picture on Facebook, if someone else has, you may be up the privacy creek here. Here’s a couple of my old posts back to 2009 relating on this subject…as without an arm of regulation spelling out IT infrastructure use, privacy laws are just pretty much useless and we can keep reading about the less than adequate bills that are proposed in DC. So now when you combine faceprints with data profiles well how difficult is it to match data I ask…not that hard depending on the data available to query, use and sell.
Does the US Government Need a Department of Modeling and Algorithms–Is Data Addiction and Abuse the Next Up and Coming 12 Step Program, Some Classic Posts & Topics Revisited
Your data is out there floating around the web and you have no clue how it got there and the errors in the data continue to rise as one bit of data containing errors gets aggregated all over the place. It is an epidemic.
Data Floating Around the Web and You Don’t Know How It Got There? Time to License and Excise Tax Data Sellers–Identify “Flawed Data” Epidemic At The Root of the Problem
“But she didn’t know which company had collected and shared the data in the first place, so she didn’t know how to have her entry removed from the original marketing list. “
Don’t hold your breath on our new consumer agency 
with Richard Cordray at the top as he’s building a data base to study and see how all this works, too bad we have someone who needs to learn all of this and we don’t have an expert who knows and understands the mechanics so I guess we have to pay for his education now too, a sad state of affairs when we have to spend more tax dollars to educate an attorney, and that doesn’t cut it today. He has no clue and is way in over his head and this is why we need folks with some technology in their backgrounds as attorneys are good at research but they are not movers when they don’t have a tech background to combine with it. I like our President and a lot of what he is doing but for the life of me I can’t understand why he keeps putting lawyers in positions to where they have no ability or education and expect them to produce results as most of them are digital illiterate when it comes to issues like this.
Richard Cordray, Fail With Understanding Flawed Models and Algorithms -Big Case of“Algo Duping”With Big Data-Save Time, Hire Quants Who Know How Consumer Financial Models Are Built and Function…Geez
We are still allowing banks and companies to “model for inequality” and nobody is calling them to task. Great video at the link below explains a lot of how this works from a quant who models, she tells is straight and worked for a Hedge Fund in the past, one who did work for Larry Summers who has enough physics in his background to know how to manipulate I feel. Cathy O’Neill states we need to stop lying with mathematical models, which is a lot of what is happening as lying models can and have made billions for many who use them. She call some of this “Weapons of Math Destruction”…and she’s right.
Modeling for Inequality With Segmentation, Insurance Industry Uses Backwards Segmentation As Some Models Stand to Threaten Overall Democracy
Here’s yet another great 60 Minute video to watch (Chapter 54 of the Killer Algorithm series) to see how all of this falls into place with the credit business and their models and algorithms…if you missed it, please watch and see how riddled with errors your credit information is and how it is modeled and used for profit and you don’t even get to see what is on record half the time as consumers are not given all the information. Original post at link below.
60 Minutes Confirms the Super Attacks of the Killer Algorithms With Consumer Credit Information With Flawed Data and the Inability to Algorithmically Fix Errors Which Really Makes a Huge Case for Licensing and Taxing All Data Sellers in the US–Chapter 54
This video and a few others worth watching are also on the “Algo Duping” page which is a collection of videos created by folks smarter than me, telling you the same thing. Credit agencies of course cash in big time too with selling and reselling data and the flaws continue to roll and after all is said and done and the banks and companies make their billions, we as consumers are stuck on our own dime fixing the flawed data that they made billions selling for profit.
Again if the US government is every going to get serious about privacy they should update themselves with the times and start a system where we can identify and track who all the data sellers are, what they are selling and reselling and to who. As I have mentioned on many occasions an excise tax on the billions in profits made could easily go to help fund the consumer agencies of the NIH and FDA, two of the most important government agencies we need.
Time Has Come to License and Tax the Data Sellers of the Web, Companies, Banks, Social Networks..Any One Making a Profit-Latest Microsoft/Google Privacy War Helping the Cause –Consumers Deserve to Know What Is Being Sold and To Who in a Searchable Format
If you don’t see the addition of facial recognition as an even bigger source of profiteering, then you better think again as it makes re-matching data even easier for those profiting selling our data. BD
Even if your picture isn't on the Internet, computerized facial recognition makes it virtually impossible to keep your "faceprint" private. Lesley Stahl reports.
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