Editor’s note: This commentary is a response to “Legislation seeks to outsmart ‘smart’ speakers,” May 23, 2019. Voice recognition systems have streamlined our daily activities, from turning on the lights to important reminders about taking medications. We have only scratched the surface of what is possible with voice recognition systems. But...
San Francisco May Ban Face Recognition Tech by Police
SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco supervisors will vote on surveillance oversight legislation Tuesday that includes a ban on the use of facial recognition technology by police and other city departments. If approved by the full board, San Francisco would become the first U.S. city to outlaw the tech at a...
Can Zuckerberg Really Make a Privacy-Friendly Facebook?
SAN FRANCISCO — After building a social network that turned into a surveillance system, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg says he's shifting his company's focus to messaging services designed to serve as fortresses of privacy. Instead of just being the network that connects everyone, Facebook wants to encourage small groups of people to...
Facebook Wants People to Invite Its Cameras into Their Homes
SAN FRANCISCO — Facebook is launching the first electronic device to bear its brand, a screen and camera-equipped gadget intended to make video calls easier and more intuitive. But it's unclear if people will open their homes to an internet-connected camera sold by a company with a questionable track record...
Zuckerberg Loses $16 Billion in a Day. Facebook Stock Plunges.
NEW YORK — Facebook faced a day of reckoning as its shares plunged Thursday in the company's worst trading day since going public in 2012. It was among the biggest one-day losses of market value in U.S. stock market history. The 19 percent drop in Facebook shares vaporized $119 billion...