Crash or Be Monitored – Which is Better?
Facial recognition software has become very sophisticated over the last few years and the use of facial recognition has gone far further than the searches seen on SVU or other police shows, and are used regu8larly by many law enforcement agencies to match camera photos to the vast databases that are built by both independent companies and agencies like the FBI, who have access to some 400m non-criminal photos from the State Department and DMV records from the 16 states that allow access, along with the sharing of criminal facial recognition and the Federal, State, and local level.
But if you think the everyday rank and file US resident is worried about his or her face being mis-identified in a criminal investigation or could be associated with some radical conspiracy group through a blurry photo, that pales into comparison to those who are outraged that a camera in their Tesla (TSLA) is monitoring them as the car’s beta software is being tested. This has nothing to do with the Tesla FSD (Full Self-Driving) beta software that some Tesla owners are using, and more to do with the fact that Mr. Musk has removed some owners from the trials because a camera that monitors the driver (who is supposed to have their hands on the wheel at all times in case the software makes a mistake) indicated that the drivers were not paying enough attention to road conditions. This opened began a series of questions about whether the in-car camera was able to detect the ‘gaze’ of the driver, which Musk indicated was correct, raising privacy questions.
Surprisingly in China, privacy laws prohibit the use of in-car cameras and all Tesla vehicles on the Mainland have them turned off, excluding them from the software trials. So it comes down to whether you trust beta software, for which the answer should be absolutely ‘no’, and if not, would it be better to be monitored and ‘reminded’ to pay attention when the software was in effect, so to avoid an accident if the software fails, or to retain your privacy and die in a fiery car crash because you were not paying attention? We go with not dying…
But if you think the everyday rank and file US resident is worried about his or her face being mis-identified in a criminal investigation or could be associated with some radical conspiracy group through a blurry photo, that pales into comparison to those who are outraged that a camera in their Tesla (TSLA) is monitoring them as the car’s beta software is being tested. This has nothing to do with the Tesla FSD (Full Self-Driving) beta software that some Tesla owners are using, and more to do with the fact that Mr. Musk has removed some owners from the trials because a camera that monitors the driver (who is supposed to have their hands on the wheel at all times in case the software makes a mistake) indicated that the drivers were not paying enough attention to road conditions. This opened began a series of questions about whether the in-car camera was able to detect the ‘gaze’ of the driver, which Musk indicated was correct, raising privacy questions.
Surprisingly in China, privacy laws prohibit the use of in-car cameras and all Tesla vehicles on the Mainland have them turned off, excluding them from the software trials. So it comes down to whether you trust beta software, for which the answer should be absolutely ‘no’, and if not, would it be better to be monitored and ‘reminded’ to pay attention when the software was in effect, so to avoid an accident if the software fails, or to retain your privacy and die in a fiery car crash because you were not paying attention? We go with not dying…
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