this post was submitted on 23 Feb 2024
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Privacy

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A set of smart vending machines at the University of Waterloo is expected to be removed from campus after students raised privacy concerns about their software.

The machines have M&M artwork on them and sell chocolate and other candy. They are located throughout campus, including in the Modern Languages building and Hagey Hall.

Earlier this month, a student noticed an error message on one of the machines in the Modern Languages building. It appeared to indicate there was a problem with a facial recognition application.

"We wouldn't have known if it weren't for the application error. There's no warning here," said River Stanley, a fourth-year student, who investigated the machines for an article in the university publication, mathNEWS.

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[–] jeffhykin@lemm.ee 254 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (7 children)

It gets worse :/

I looked up the brand (Invenda). Their PDF includes "using AI", "measuring foot traffic", and gathering "gender/age/etc" e.g. facial recognition to estimate a persons age and gender

And in terms of "stored locally" this is straight from their website

The machine comes with a “brain” – Invenda OS – and is connected to the Invenda Cloud, which allows you to manage it remotely and gather valuable environmental, consumer and transactional data. The device can be branded according to your requirements to further enhance your brand presence.

The marketing also so fricken backwards that it reads like satire:

For a consumer, there’s no greater comfort than shopping pressure-free. Invenda Wallet allows consumers to browse, select and pay for products leisurely and privately 🤦‍♂️

[–] neutron@thelemmy.club 147 points 1 year ago (6 children)

I'm dreading for the day they introduce dynamic pricing based on who's buying and refuses to sell without a full face scan.

[–] jeffhykin@lemm.ee 85 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

What really bothers me is the "measuring foot traffic". I already refuse to use vending-machines because of the pricing and unhealthyness, but you're telling me I need to make GDPR takedown requests just for walking to class?

[–] tryptaminev@feddit.de 8 points 1 year ago

Also this is data that any reasonable company could get in like half an hour of searching and asking.

There is data on how many meals are sold a day at the mensa, how many students are enrolled, how many students live on campus...

Unless the vending machine is in the last corner of the third floor of an half empty building, all this information can be puzzled together to get a good estimate of how many people are passing the machine on a day to day basis.

[–] livus@kbin.social 24 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Fast food franchises always charge more in poor areas, I wonder if dynamic pricing would charge poor people more as well.

[–] oxideseven@lemmy.ca 4 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Got a source on this? I'd love to read more about that

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[–] Steve@startrek.website 12 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Shut the fuck up, they can hear you!

[–] GBU_28@lemm.ee 6 points 1 year ago

Dynamic pricing already exists based on what device brand you use

[–] Ilovethebomb@lemm.ee 4 points 1 year ago

Try that with me, and I'll unplug the fucker and cut the plug off.

[–] federico3@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

People panic about face scan while the ongoing massive privacy breaches exist around online services and electronic devices. The amount of personal data that people pour into smartphones is enormous compared to using that vending machine. We need more GDPR.

[–] ipkpjersi@lemmy.ml 40 points 1 year ago (1 children)

They have to make it sound like it's private and secure, but it really isn't. It's sad how dystopian our future is becoming.

[–] octopus_ink@lemmy.ml 9 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

I keep telling my zoomer son he needs to read 1984. Not to live his life in fear of it, but to help his awareness of it, and provide an example of what that sort of societal control can look like. It's probably the one thing I nag him about. 5 years later he still hasn't read it. lol

I haven't read it in decades, but I still feel it's hard to miss certain parallels with modern reality when you have.

[–] InputZero@lemmy.ml 10 points 1 year ago (1 children)

A good book to pair with 1984 is A Brave New World. They both tackle forms of control but from two different approaches. In A Brave New World there's no need for thought police. Every person is designed and crafted from conception to adulthood to never have a criminal thought.

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[–] AnUnusualRelic@lemmy.world 14 points 1 year ago (4 children)

"Welcome back, consumer unit number 74665!"

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[–] namingthingsiseasy@programming.dev 12 points 1 year ago (1 children)

GDPR desperately needed on the other side of the pond...

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[–] cpw@lemmy.ca 8 points 1 year ago

Say Invenda (your brand here) five times to get a discount!

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[–] ikidd@lemmy.world 78 points 1 year ago (12 children)

A massive and punitive fine for anyone gathering biometric data without express permssion would be a great way to discourage other companies from bringing that shit around. A billion or two ought to do it.

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[–] kbal@fedia.io 54 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yet another demonstration that the primary meaning of "smart" has come to be "unbelievably stupid."

[–] OpenStars@startrek.website 24 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The definition of pretty much every word these days has been hijacked to mean the exact opposite - like Google lets you "search" for things you "want", and Reddit would "connect" you to "~~humans~~ people", FaceBook will ~~steal all of your data~~ share "news", again from "people", and so on.

I pretty much think of "smart" as now meaning "tactically weaponized to maximize corpo profits" - you know, "for your convenience"!:-P 🤮

[–] Rolando@lemmy.world 12 points 1 year ago (2 children)
[–] floofloof@lemmy.ca 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] Rolando@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago

Renting is owning.

Downloading is theft.

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[–] BradleyUffner@lemmy.world 47 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Regardless of the privacy issues, if this is actually a default feature of this machine, why does the camera hole look like it was put there with a hammer?

[–] floofloof@lemmy.ca 14 points 1 year ago

Dunno, but it needs more of the hammer treatment.

[–] ShepherdPie@midwest.social 8 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I bet it's from people picking at it and the paint chipping off the sharp edge, but it does also look like the hole was drilled on a Friday afternoon by a guy who probably should have retired 10 years ago.

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[–] ResoluteCatnap@lemmy.ml 5 points 1 year ago

I thought you were exaggerating...lmao

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[–] Guntrigger@feddit.ch 44 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Students believe there is a camera inside this hole on the vending machine

Students and their silly beliefs. Don't worry about that lens shining in the hole. It's just a useless hole!

[–] LemmyExpert@lemmy.zip 17 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Strategic use of a cordless drill can ensure it's a useless hole.

[–] Rodeo@lemmy.ca 13 points 1 year ago (2 children)

that's vandalism and can get you in trouble.

A simple sticker though, which can be easily removed, doesn't count as vandalism, and can be done over and over again for almost no cost.

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[–] devilish666@lemmy.world 31 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Hmm.... facial recognition vending machine huh....
Finally it's time for my jammer & some script from c/netsec to shine

[–] nix@midwest.social 12 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Or tape over the camera hole.

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[–] reverendsteveii@lemm.ee 27 points 1 year ago (1 children)

who's hype for the state-industrial complex to track our every movement! surely this combined with a right wing political movement that is increasingly focused on punishing so-called enemies will never lead to a complete humanitarian disaster.

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[–] butsbutts@lemmy.ml 18 points 1 year ago (2 children)
[–] Pyr_Pressure@lemmy.ca 8 points 1 year ago

Corporations suck

[–] Kolrami@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Technology does way more than what some consumers want without adding enough value. Ring doorbell just grossly increased their ring protect plan cost and I'm starting to wonder:

"Why are we paying monthly subscriptions for them to just store two months of snapshots with a few videos?"

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[–] FunkyMonk@kbin.social 10 points 1 year ago (1 children)
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[–] Aggravationstation@lemmy.world 9 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

The pharmacist at my local Tesco once told me I was buying paramol too often. It had been at least a year since I last bought it.

This told me that:

A. They're using facial recognition to track purchases

B. There's either not enough info provided by it or enough training on it's use

[–] Dagwood222@lemm.ee 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

[off topic?]

New York City is moving away from people paying for subway/bus rides with a pre-paid card or cash and going to a system where you pay with your credit card or smart wallet. Nice way to quietly monitor everyone's location and habits.

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[–] Omega_Haxors@lemmy.ml 6 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

This just in, slavery co. branded machines have been found partaking in illegal espionage, much to everyone's shock.

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