WHY IT MATTERS: Digital Transformation

WHY IT MATTERS: face recognition using AI has been around for a few years. It used to require large computers in the cloud. Not anymore. This changes everything.

1) privacy: it will become more and more difficult to protect your privacy in the future. I have written about this before, specifically when the Google glasses came out 3 years ago. It is a concept that is interpreted differently in countries and cultures - such as China vs USA.

2) China: is investing heavily to win the AI war with the US. So we should expect every product - from glasses to door bells to cell phones to cars - to have face recognition built into the device in the very near future. At the CES2018 show, I saw a number of companies that offer face recognition chips ready to be embedded at low price into any consumer device. So it *will* happen. More on China in a later post...

3) protection: people will naturally want to protect themselves. We should start to see face masks that are designed to fool face recognition hardware as has been shown to be possible recently.

More reading:

- google glasses face recognition: http://fmcs.digital/blog/kodak-cameras-banned-in-the-1880s-over-loss-of/ 

- CES security cameras: http://plus.lapresse.ca/screens/9ee3fba2-dd87-42c4-ae7c-b2478b752ec3%7C_0.html (in french)

- fooling face recognition: https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/ne43pz/ai-fooling-glasses-could-be-good-enough-to-trick-facial-recognition-at-airports 

WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT

As I wrote recently in the "Pyramid of Digital Needs" (fmcs.digital/blog/pyramid-of-digital-needs/), security is one of the most basic needs. When we don't feel secure and private then it is difficult to enjoy the benefits of social networks and all the other tools that digital now provides. It is essential that corporations address security and privacy in a meaningful way in order for their clients, employees and partners to use their new digital tools and embrace the digital transformation that most enterprises have recently embarked on.

Also worth reading from Pew Research:

• Perceptions of privacy & security: http://www.pewinternet.org/2014/11/12/public-privacy-perceptions/
• Americans and cybersecurity: http://www.pewinternet.org/2017/01/26/americans-and-cybersecurity/ 
• Privacy & information sharing: http://www.pewinternet.org/2016/01/14/privacy-and-information-sharing/ 
• Privacy in the digital Age: http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/06/03/privacy-in-the-digital-age/
• and many more on the Privacy and safety topic: http://www.pewinternet.org/topics/privacy-and-safety/ 

Mozilla has always been promoting Internet security and privacy and this new report paves the way for a very interesting ongoing look at key elements of the public Internet.