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Tuesday, March 29, 2022

"We Regret to Inform You" Meets Face Recognition Software

 3/23/22 Reuters:

OAKLAND, Calif., March 23 (Reuters) - Ukraine is using facial recognition software to identify the bodies of Russian soldiers killed in combat and to trace their families to inform them of their deaths, Ukraine's vice prime minister told Reuters.

Reuters exclusively reported that Ukraine's Ministry of Defense this month began using technology from Clearview AI, a New York-based facial recognition provider that finds images on the web that match faces from uploaded photos. It was not clear at that time how the technology would be used. read more

Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine's vice prime minister who also runs the ministry of digital transformation, told Reuters Ukraine had been using Clearview AI software to find the social media accounts of dead Russian soldiers.

1. The telegram several generations of American families hoped never to receive traditionally started with "We regret to inform you..."  Because Russia is apparently not informing families of their loss, to avoid causing dissent or questions, the Ukrainian military is using face recognition software to find the identities of these dead soldiers and inform their families.  This shows the families how little Putin cares about them, and Ukraine's government does.

2. War is an ugly business; a bunch of Russian conscripts lied to on their way into Ukraine have my greatest sympathy.  They did not ask for this.  While governments certainly have the legal authority to conscript for national defense, they should do so only as a last resort, and, certainly not for foreign wars.

3. "Minister of Digital Transformation": how cool of a title is that?

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