Episode 117: Kashmir Hill on Why Your Face Belongs To Them

Subscribe for free at 1984today.substack.com for weekly dystopian news and more!

Kashmir Hill is a tech reporter at the New York Times and the author of an excellent book about facial recognition technology called Your Face Belongs To Us.

She very kindly agreed to come on to talk about her book, and how she discovered the existence of Clearview AI, a shady tech company that just lost a court case in the State of Illinois brought against them (thanks to her reporting) by people whose pictures were scraped off of social media without their permission.

In the UK, Clearview managed to beat a similar rap and the Information Commissioner is trying to appeal.

In our conversation, we get into other examples of facial recognition and biometrics gone wrong, the abuses that a search engine for faces makes possible, the creepy concept of LOVEINT (when law enforcement use intelligence tools to track or stalk their love interests), and much more.

Somehow, Kashmir remains hopeful that “the rickety scaffolding of the Panopticon” can be dismantled before it’s too late, although time is running out.

You’ll also find out what a ‘red list’ is, and it’s as Black Mirror as you think.

You can find Kashmir on X as @kashhill, and I can’t recommend her book highly enough. It’s an exposé of the grotty game being played by surveillance technology companies, and a travelogue of her journey into the engine room of the dystopian present.

Find us on X: @1984todaypod

Website: https://www.1984.today

Substack: https://1984today.substack.com

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit 1984today.substack.com