Link: A booming industry of AI age scanners, aimed at children’s faces - The Washington Post

In 2021, a London-based AI firm, Yoti, proposed donating 20 South African rands for every child's photo submitted by parents in South Africa, to aid local schools through their "Share to Protect" initiative.

Yoti aimed to refine its AI's ability to gauge age through facial analysis by gathering more diverse children’s images, intending to enhance its services for clients like tech and government entities.

Despite the benefits touted by Yoti, many parents, particularly mothers, expressed profound reservations, citing privacy concerns and the potential misuse of their children's images.

Yoti's campaign highlighted the broader industry trend towards using age-check technology extensively, raising significant questions about privacy and data security across the web.

These systems are increasingly common across social networks and other platforms, mandating users to verify their age by submitting a facial scan, even incorporating government IDs for validation.

Critics argue that while these tools aim to protect children, they could inadvertently increase surveillance and data vulnerability, affecting users of all ages, which contradicts the intended safeguarding of user privacy.#

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Yoooo, this is a quick note on a link that made me go, WTF? Find all past links here.