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    Facial recognition by the back door Archived Message

    Posted by Raskolnikov on May 4, 2020, 10:06 am

    https://www.dumptheguardian.com/politics/2020/may/03/coronavirus-health-passports-for-uk-possible-in-months

    As Killary said recently, never let a good crisis go to waste and it seems "they" might use the virus crisis to get a foot in the door for facial recognition checks for the public.

    Tech firms are in talks with ministers about creating health passports to help Britons return safely to work using coronavirus testing and facial recognition.

    Facial biometrics could be used to help provide a digital certificate – sometimes known as an immunity passport – proving which workers have had Covid-19, as a possible way of easing the impact on the economy and businesses from ongoing physical distancing even after current lockdown measures are eased.

    The receptionist verifies that the photo of you on the app matches your face, with the on-app image only visible for a short time. If your ID matches and you have immunity, you can enter the workplace.

    Notice that the (supposedly) reassuring claim that the imgage is only visible for a short time doesn't mention STORAGE. How are the images stored? Who by? Who has access to them?

    Their solution would embed Onfido technology within another organisation’s app to establish someone’s identity. The person would be asked to take a selfie and an image of their government-issued identification, such as a passport or driver’s licence. The technology can determine whether the person’s face matches their ID, and also if the ID is genuine. This creates a digital identity.

    They are then tested for coronavirus under a system endorsed by the government and the result is stored by another provider – in the UK this would most likely be the NHS.

    When the person goes to their workplace, they open the app, take a photo of their face and that unlocks a QR code. That QR code would be scanned by reception using simple camera technology and on their system they would see the test result and a photo of the employee’s face for a short time, allowing them to visually determine the identity of the person in front of them.

    The only technology a business would need to make this work would be a camera to take an image of the QR code as they arrive. No information about someone’s name, date of birth, address would be visible to the person on reception, only that they are fit to go into work.

    Definitely feels a bit "Shock Doctrine" ish.

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