The rapid global spread and persistent threat of the coronavirus has presented an obvious roadblock to facial recognition’s similar global expansion. Suddenly everyone is covering their faces. Even in ideal conditions, facial recognition technologies often struggle with accuracy and have a particularly dismal track record when it comes to identifying faces that aren’t white or male. Some municipalities, startled by the civil liberties implications of inaccurate and opaque software in the hands of unaccountable and overly aggressive police, have begun banning facial recognition software outright. But the global pandemic may have inadvertently provided a privacy fix of its own — or for police, a brand new crisis.
Tag: coronavirus
Google bans ads on coronavirus conspiracy theory content
Alphabet Inc’s Google said on Friday it would prohibit websites and apps that use its advertising technology from running ads on “dangerous content” that goes against scientific consensus during the coronavirus pandemic.
The world’s largest search engine updated its policy as the health crisis has continued to rage throughout the United States, and digital advertising giants like Google and Facebook Inc have faced calls to do more to clamp down on misinformation.
Content not allowed to make money from ads include debunked conspiracy theories, such as the notion that the novel coronavirus was created in a Chinese lab as a bioweapon, that it was created by Microsoft Corp founder Bill Gates, or that the virus is a hoax, Google said in a statement.
Google already bars ads with harmful content like “miracle” health cures or which promote the anti-vaccination movement. It also prevents ads from running on publisher content that encourages those topics.
Google’s new policy will also bar advertisers from creating their own ads that promote coronavirus conspiracy theories.
Fauci says he wears mask as ‘symbol’ of good behavior
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, revealed Wednesday he wears a mask while in public partly as a “symbol” of best practices during the coronavirus pandemic — breaking with President Donald Trump, who has resisted criticism that he should model similar behavior for Americans.
“I wear it for the reason that I believe it is effective,” Fauci told CNN. “It’s not 100 percent effective. I mean, it’s sort of respect for another person, and have that other person respect you. You wear a mask, they wear a mask, you protect each other.”
But apart from wanting “to protect myself and protect others,” Fauci also said he chooses to wear a face covering “because I want to make it be a symbol for people to see that that’s the kind of thing you should be doing.”
I’m pro-choice…
Science!(tm)
on Face Masks…
Fauci urges governments to be ‘as forceful as possible’ on mask rules
Dr. Anthony Fauci said Friday state and local government leaders should be “as forceful as possible” in urging the wearing of face masks to prevent the spread of the deadly coronavirus, which the top infectious disease expert says is still in the first wave in the United States and has hit Americans “very severely.”
Fauci said the United States needs “to get better control” over COVID-19 and masks must be a priority as the country opens up.
“I would urge the leaders — the local, political and other leaders — in states and cities and towns to be as forceful as possible in getting your citizenry to wear masks,” Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said during a video conference with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
Obey!
The 2 minutes Hate: It’s OK to Yell at Strangers Who Don’t Wear Masks
Roughly two-thirds of Americans say they wear masks in public. Unfortunately, that still leaves a substantial portion of potential COVID-19 carriers unmasked. Coming across anyone flouting public health recommendations and putting you, your family, and your community at risk triggers a number of thoughts and feelings. Depending on the situation, your annoyance could range from a mild simmer to an all-out rolling boil. So, what do you do?
First off, your indignation at that Target shopper in front of you in line without so much as a handkerchief around their neck is warranted. Wearing a mask is crucial. The medical community, including White House health advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci, has said in as many ways as possible that Americans who aren’t wearing face masks are increasing the risk of spreading the coronavirus. Even asymptomatic carriers of the virus may be spreading the disease. It’s absolutely reckless to expose the elderly and other at-risk groups to airborne coronavirus — the reason for social distancing and wearing face masks in the first place.
But understanding a situation is important. Some people might not be wearing their mask, letting it dangle around the neck for a minute because they were hot or uncomfortable. Some people may have simply spaced out on wearing a mask outside of their home because, honestly, mask-wearing is not yet second nature. Other people, particularly minorities, might not be wearing a mask of any sort in certain areas because covering their faces could be more dangerous than catching COVID-19. And yes, there are some for whom not wearing a mask is a willful act of assholery. These people are unwilling to conform to a new societal norm and refuse to yield what they believe to be their right to breathe “free.”
Of course, there’s no way to know exactly which type of non-face mask-wearer you’re dealing with. And there are ways to approach a situation delicately before your anger boils over. So, before you form a posse of fellow shoppers to shame them, consider alternatives to confrontation. Start slow, and escalate as needed, following these five steps.
“The horrible thing about the Two Minutes Hate was not that one was obliged to act a part, but that it was impossible to avoid joining in. Within thirty seconds any pretence was always unnecessary. A hideous ecstasy of fear and vindictiveness, a desire to kill, to torture, to smash faces in with a sledge hammer, seemed to flow through the whole group of people like an electric current, turning one even against one’s will into a grimacing, screaming lunatic. And yet the rage that one felt was an abstract, undirected emotion which could be switched from one object to another like the flame of a blowlamp”
George Orwell
Texas health officials remove over 3,000 ‘probable’ coronavirus cases from overall count
Texas health officials removed more than 3,000 reported coronavirus cases from an overall count after “probable” cases for people who were never tested were counted as confirmed.
“Since we report confirmed cases on our dashboard, we have removed 3,484 previously reported probable cases from the statewide and Bexar County totals,” Chris Van Deusen, a spokesman for the state health agency, said to the Austin American-Statesman.
“The State of Texas today had to remove 3,484 cases from its Covid-19 positive case count, because the San Antonio Health Department was reporting ‘probable’ cases for people never actually tested, as ‘confirmed’ positive cases.- TDHS,” Fox 4 Dallas Evening News anchor Steve Eagar tweeted Wednesday. “What other departments make this same mistake?”
Hellbound and Down 
You must be logged in to post a comment.