9M Images Exposed by Facial Recognition Platform 9,042,977 images totaling 450.2 gigabytes of data were exposed in a public database with no password protection or encryption. Facial images of adults, teenagers and children were accessible. These included: - Profile pictures - Screenshots - Physical photographs The files belonged to ClarityCheck, a digital investigation service leveraging reverse image search for OSINT-based identity verification. Upon discovery of the exposed database, Cybersecurity Researcher Jeremiah Fowler reached out with a responsible disclosure notice. The organization expressed gratitude for the notice and the database was restricted from public access. This could be a considerable privacy concern. As risks of impersonation grow more complex, especially with the proliferation of AI deepfakes, the exposure of facial imagery on such a wide scale could have posed a cyber threat. The exposure of children's faces could be especially concerning, as recent events have shown cybercriminals creating AI-generated child abuse images (CSAM) of students in order to extort schools. However, as Fowler points out there is no evidence any malicious actor accessed the database nor exploited its contents, all discussions of possible ramifications are purely hypothetical. Nevertheless, in the event such information was placed into the hands of malicious actors, the consequences of such a leak could be significant. Looking for a reprint of this article? From high-res PDFs to custom plaques, order your copy today!
Aug 20, 2026 · via securitymagazine.com
To find out, I asked Luuk Spreeuwers, a researcher in biometrics and facial recognition at the University of Twente. How does facial recognition work? To understand how facial recognition works, Luuk first distinguishes between two methods: verification and identification. Your phone uses verification. The system already knows who you are supposed to be: the owner of the phone. Luckily, your phone doesn’t have to search through millions of faces to find yours. It only needs to determine whether the face in front of the camera matches that of the owner. To do this, the system compares features from the face in front of the camera with previously stored features from one specific person. Luuk calls this a 1:1 comparison. The result is either a match or a non-match. Identification works differently. In this case, the system doesn’t yet know who the person in front of the camera is and is trying to find out. It compares the features of one face with those of multiple people stored in its database. Luuk calls this a 1:N comparison. The system then looks for the best match or concludes that there is no match. So, the main difference lies in the question the system is trying to answer. Verification asks, ‘Are you this person?’, while identification asks, ‘Who are you?’ You can see a similar principle to verification at automated passport control. There, the system can compare features from a live camera image with features from the passport photo stored on the chip in your passport. But what does facial recognition actually look at? Your phone doesn’t simply look at your eye colour or the distance between your nose and mouth. Modern facial recognition systems use deep learning, a form of artificial intelligence, to extract distinctive features from a face. ‘These systems are
Aug 20, 2026 · via utwente.nl
Live facial recognition technology could be used to stop banned football supporters attending matches in Scotland following the violent disorder that marred Rangers' Scottish Cup clash with Celtic in March. Craig Naylor, who has held the post since 2022, said such technology could be used as part of efforts to stop banned individuals from attending matches. His comments came as he argued that using both facial recognition technology and drones, with "appropriate safeguards" in place, could "help reduce the threats posed to the public from high-risk sex offenders, organised crime groups, violent offenders and others whose activities cause significant harm to communities". He stressed that football disorder, such as that seen when Rangers played Celtic in the Scottish Cup quarter-final in March, where rival fans clashed after a pitch invasion, "cannot continue to be tolerated". His comments came in his latest annual report, which suggested that restricting the number of supporters allowed to attend games, applying football banning orders with "more vigour" and "modern technologies such as facial recognition to prevent the attendance of banned individuals should all be explored". He described the Old Firm clash in March as being a "watershed moment for Scottish football". Naylor stated: "The scenes witnessed, including pitch incursions, assaults, the use of pyrotechnics and threats to public safety, were unacceptable and caused injuries to those involved. "A situation that cannot continue to be tolerated." While he stressed that "responsibility for violent and disorderly behaviour rests unequivocally with those individuals who chose to engage in it", the inspector added that there is a "clear need for a more joined-up and intelligence-led approach to the management of high-risk football fixtures". Warning of the "increasing threat of violence and disorder", he said clubs, governing bodies, local authorities and supporter groups must all share responsibility with policing in
Aug 20, 2026 · via glasgowtimes.co.uk
Use facial recognition to stop football violence, says police chief inspector A number of police forces in England use Live Facial Recognition (LFR), but Police Scotland does not Police Scotland should use facial recognition technology to stop football violence, the chief inspector has said. Craig Naylor, His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of the Constabulary in Scotland, has told the Scottish Government that drones and facial recognition could “reduce the threats posed to the public from high-risk sex offenders, organised crime groups, violent offenders and others whose activities cause significant harm to communities”. A number of police forces in England use Live Facial Recognition (LFR), but Police Scotland does not. It comes after high-profile disorder at football games in Scotland last season, including pitch invasions at the Old Firm and Celtic’s title-deciding match against Hearts. Mr Naylor said “the challenge” for public sector leaders was “not whether to adopt these technologies, but how quickly they can do so safely, ethically and effectively”. He said: “Police and law enforcement partners must seek to exploit, with appropriate safeguards in place, advancements in operational technology such as remotely piloted aircraft systems (drones) and facial recognition. “The public sector should be ambitious in harnessing innovation to improve services while preserving public trust and accountability by explaining the case for use of these new capabilities.” Mr Naylor described the recent football violence and related disorder witnessed in Scotland as “a situation that cannot continue to be tolerated”. He said the increasing threat, especially outside football grounds, was likely to increase the number of police officers being deployed to future games. This means less police officers are available in other areas and increases the cost of policing through overtime or other deferred costs. He said football clubs, governing bodies, local authorities and supporter groups must share responsibility with
Aug 20, 2026 · via scotsman.com
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Aug 20, 2026 · via youtube.com
U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Ryan Gaskins, assigned to the 36th Airlift Squadron, resource advisor and loadmaster, poses with a signed "Installation Sashimono" at Yokota Air Base, Japan, Aug. 14, 2026. Gaskins was selected as the squadron's Samurai Spotlight honoree, recognized for supporting C-130J operations, delivering 274 tons of humanitarian relief supplies to Saipan following Super Typhoon Sinlaku, and providing 11 hours of search-and-rescue coverage alongside the U.S. Coast Guard. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Tallon Bratton)
| Date Taken: | 08.14.2026 |
| Date Posted: | 08.19.2026 22:06 |
| Photo ID: | 9878724 |
| VIRIN: | 260814-F-TU760-1001 |
| Resolution: | 5869x3905 |
| Size: | 4.71 MB |
| Location: | YOKOTA AIR BASE, TOKYO, JP |
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Aug 20, 2026 · via dvidshub.net
Abstract Vision transformers (ViTs) process images as sequences of embedded tokens, yet in existing architectures, tokenization is performed entirely in the digital domain, downstream of image capture. This separation increases energy cost and prevents token formation from occurring where visual information is physically generated. Here we introduce a physical tokenizer that performs analogue light-to-token conversion directly at the sensor level for ViTs. The prototype integrates a 32 × 32 photosensitive memory array of monolayer MoS2 floating-gate phototransistors with peripheral addressing circuitry, enabling optical images to be stored as non-volatile states and selectively combined into patch embeddings in situ, thereby eliminating separate sensing, patch division and patch embedding stages. When deployed in a standard ViT pipeline, the physical tokenizer achieves software-comparable accuracy on CIFAR-10 while reducing energy consumption by 14.3-fold relative to a digital tokenizer. These results establish physical tokenization as an energy-efficient and scalable hardware foundation for edge-intelligent, data-intensive vision systems. This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution Access options Subscribe to this journal Receive 12 digital issues and online access to articles $119.00 per year only $9.92 per issue Buy this article - Purchase on SpringerLink - Instant access to the full article PDF. USD 39.95 Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout Similar content being viewed by others Subjects Data availability The data supporting the findings of this study are available from the corresponding authors upon reasonable request. Source data are provided with this paper. Code availability The code supporting the findings of this study is available from the corresponding authors upon reasonable request. References - Dosovitskiy, A. et al. An image is worth 16 × 16 words: transformers for image recognition at scale. In Proc. International Conference on Learning Representations (ICLR, 2021). - Liu, Z. et al. Swin
Aug 20, 2026 · via nature.com
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Aug 20, 2026 · via youtube.com
UK ICO finds police facial recognition use mostly compliant with data regulations The UK Information Commissioner’s Office says police are using facial recognition in ways that meet their regulatory compliance obligations, for the most part. Their compliance rate is higher with live facial recognition than with retrospective or forensic applications, however, according to the ICO’s findings from audits of five forces in England and Wales. A blog post by Deputy Commissioner for Regulatory Policy Emily Keaney makes the case for strong data protection governance as a pillar of public trust in facial recognition, and therefore suggests police using the technology draw on the audit findings to improve theirs. The ICO makes 107 recommendations overall related to compliance and best practices. The forces accepted all of the recommendations, at least in part, and the regulator gives the police good marks for participating in and cooperating with the audits. Keaney also writes that Home Office and the National Police Chief’s Council (NPCC) told the ICO they are dealing with the demographic differentials found by the National Physics Lab in the legacy Cognitec algorithm released in 2020 with additional staff training, oversight reporting, equality impact assessments and plans to replace the algorithm, presumably to a newer release. In the meantime, Home Office held consultations on the introduction of a legal framework for police use of facial recognition. The ICO participated, calling for greater specificity in guidance for law enforcement. The data protection authority is also contributing guidance for businesses, government bodies and the public to help nurture trust in police use of face biometrics. Scotland and Northern Ireland are also advancing toward more use of facial recognition by police, and the ICO says its recommendations hold for those countries as well. Greater Manchester Police need PND policy Overall, the ICO sees some forces
Aug 20, 2026 · via biometricupdate.com
Meet VSD’s Editorial Advisory Board: Spotlight on Daniel Lau, Ph.D., IEEE Fellow and Pioneer in Machine Vision Innovation Over the next several months, Vision Systems Design will feature profiles of members of its editorial advisory board. We’ll kick off this series with Daniel Lau, Ph.D., a distinguished expert in machine vision and image processing whose career has spanned signal processing, digital halftoning, cutting-edge 3D imaging, and the integration of AI into practical engineering solutions. From his formative education at Purdue University and the University of Delaware to his pioneering research and entrepreneurial ventures, he has consistently pushed the boundaries of imaging technology. Dr. Lau is the Databeam Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, the university’s director of graduate studies, and a certified professional engineer. His work spans diverse applications, including fingerprint scanning, dairy-industry automation, pipeline inspection, and dental imaging. In 2026, Dr. Lau was elevated to IEEE Fellow in recognition of his contributions to digital printing and 3D imaging. He continues to lead innovative research exploring AI-driven world models for complex process recognition. His collaborative leadership style, enthusiasm for authentic community engagement, and forward-looking approach to AI make him a vital voice in the evolving field of machine vision. To learn more about Dr. Lau and his approach to innovation, I sent him a series of questions. I hope you enjoy this Q&A as much as I do. Editor’s note: The following Q&A may have been edited for style. Vision Systems Design (VSD): Can you share how your career path led you to specialize in machine vision and image processing? Daniel Lau, Ph.D. (DL): Two classes at Purdue, really. I took signal processing from Neal Gallagher, who's a legend in the field, and I was hooked. Then I took image processing from Jan
Aug 19, 2026 · via vision-systems.com
ClarityCheck’s exposed biometric databases present major identity theft, fraud risk Consider where your face might be found. Social media, probably. Maybe internet search. It doesn’t naturally occur to anyone that their face may be stored in a publicly exposed database with no security safeguards to speak of. Unencrypted and freely available, your face could be nicked from that database, paired with fake data and used for identity fraud. Cybersecurity researcher Jeremiah Fowler recently happened upon just such a database. According to what he shared with ExpressVPN, it contained 9,042,977 image files totaling 450.2 GB of data, housing the facial biometrics of adults, teens, and children in folders labeled “faces” and “profiles.” “These included what appeared to be profile images, screenshots, and physical photographs that appeared to have been uploaded for reverse image searches or other identity verification purposes,” Fowler says. “Upon further research, I was able to determine that the files belonged to a U.S.-registered company called ClarityCheck.” Treat biometrics with care they warrant: Fowler ClarityCheck offers reverse phone, email, image and vehicle lookup services. Its website describes “an online digital investigation service that uses reverse image search technology and claims to help users identify individuals, detect catfishing, investigate suspicious online profiles, and perform OSINT-based identity verification.” In the case of a service like ClarityCheck, Fowler says, “the marketed purpose of the platform is the re-identification of individuals by allowing users (anonymous and registered) to upload an image of a person and attempting to connect that image to publicly available information, online profiles, or other identifying records.” For ClarityCheck, a side effect was the mass retention of biometric data that, it turned out, anyone could steal. “I imply no wrongdoing by ClarityCheck, Clarity Check Ltd., or any related entities,” Fowler says. “I do not claim that user data was actively
Aug 19, 2026 · via biometricupdate.com
Police watchdog calls for live facial recognition to tackle football disorder The head of the Scottish police watchdog is calling for the introduction of live facial recognition technology and drones to help combat football-related disorder. HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary in Scotland (HMICS) Craig Naylor has used the publication of his annual report to highlight the need for better use of technology to help fight crime. Naylor described recent football violence, like the disorder between Celtic and Rangers fans at Ibrox in March, as "a situation that cannot continue to be tolerated." He also said the increasing violence in Scotland outside football grounds was likely to require more police deployments. Naylor said: "Elements such as restricting the number of fans allowed to attend matches, banning orders with more rigor, requirements to use modern technologies such as facial recognition to prevent the attendance of banned individuals should all be explored and enacted to ensure that this behaviour is stopped." Live facial recognition technology has been used by police forces at football matches in England. But its deployment remains controversial amid concerns over privacy, civil liberties and the potential for errors in identification. The technology has never been used by Police Scotland but the force has been engaged in a public consultation on its deployment. The report comes after disorder at several games towards the end of last season's Scottish Premiership. This Included high-profile matches between Celtic and Rangers in the Scottish Cup in March and the title decider between Celtic and Hearts in May. Later that day two police officers were seriously injured and 14 arrests were made during trouble in Glasgow city centre as Celtic supporters celebrated the club's Premiership win. Police Scotland's Assistant Chief Constable Tim Mairs said: "We have a duty to use new technologies to safeguard our
Aug 19, 2026 · via bbc.com
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Aug 19, 2026 · via youtube.com
Dive Brief: - Skilled labor demand has almost doubled over the past three years, driven in part by a rise attributed to AI, according to results of a National Fire Protection Association survey released Tuesday. The organization sets standards for fire and electrical safety in the built environment. - The survey suggests a rise in demand for skilled labor to work on data centers and other types of AI-related infrastructure, pulling trained professionals away from other settings. Roughly a third of respondents to NFPA’s survey cited increased demand for skilled labor related to AI infrastructure, according to NFPA’s survey of 326 skilled trades workers and others in the field, including facility managers. - The results cause concern that as AI infrastructure is prioritized, “skilled workers begin leaving other jobsites to satisfy those needs,” Kyle Spencer, director of NFPA LiNK, said in a statement. At the same time, AI could help workers adapt to these rapid shifts and fill those gaps, with workers already using AI to quickly ensure their work meets the latest code requirements, NFPA says. Dive Insight: The rapid scaling of data centers and digital infrastructure in the U.S. is exacerbating challenges in hiring skilled labor across industries, according to a March report by Randstad North America, which analyzed more than 150 million job postings for key roles between 2022 and 2026 to identify labor demand. For example, it’s now more time-consuming to hire an HVAC professional or an electrician than a software developer. Contributing to that shortage is a generational shift, with seasoned workers retiring and taking the skills that have helped prevent downtime and costly errors with them, Randstad says. Despite a looming retirement cliff for the engineering and technical workforce, vocational training pipelines haven’t kept pace with demand. Conservative estimates suggest a 30% skills gap
Aug 19, 2026 · via facilitiesdive.com
DHS tries to lessen constraints of biometric identity verification The Department of Homeland Security is working to mitigate technical challenges tied to biometric identity verification systems, per documents posted Tuesday and earlier this month. DHS built the Biometric Data Collection and Verification System to quantify the performance of data acquired and stored by the agency. The system can identify deficiencies and provides standardized testing measures. In addition to tackling the challenge of identifying failures or inaccuracies in biometric matching algorithms, the BDCVS is meant to speed up data acquisition and delayed retrieval speeds, according to the agency. DHS characterized BDCVS as a “proven system” that improves trust in biometric matching outcomes with applications across screening venues. The agency also developed another new system that aims to address additional shortcomings of typical biometric identification tools used for traveler screening. Biometric verification systems can struggle to properly identify individuals with common first and last names or when birthdays are shared by multiple people, DHS said in its research note. Data input errors, such as misspellings or use of nicknames can also present roadblocks, leading to delays in verification, significant bottlenecks for security personnel and travelers and extended screening process time. In response, researchers from the Transportation Security Administration and the DHS’s Science and Technology Directorate created the Biometric Identity Disambiguation system. BID determines whether an individual matches their identification information by comparing the person’s biometrics and other information, like a driver’s license, to what’s stored in accessible databases. The system then assigns a score that indicates how close of a match the individual is to the documents provided, signalling what level of additional checks are needed to screening personnel. DHS said the technology has potential as a “proven system” across border checkpoints, testing and registration centers and as part of transportation, event
Aug 19, 2026 · via fedscoop.com
HOA surveillance cameras secretly installed for ‘neighborhood security’ draw massive backlash — and are killing home sales See more of our coverage in your search results. Add The New York Post on Google Big brother is watching your open house. Homeowners associations across the country are quietly signing up for Flock Safety’s license plate cameras, and the backlash is now strong enough to blow up home sales, kill signed contracts and land cities in court, with New York at the center of the fight. Nowhere is the backlash more raw than in the Adirondacks, where the fight has already toppled a signed contract and sparked open revolt inside a gated community. In Saranac Lake, a resident living behind a gate who protested the cameras in his own neighborhood said the issue isn’t security itself. It’s who gets to look. “The problem I have is not with security cameras. It’s with the Flock system directly. Anyone and their mother can have easy access to this database. The way the data is readily being shared. It is completely unconstitutional,” he told The Post. That anger boiled over at a packed Saranac Lake village board meeting earlier in the year after officials quietly signed a contract for a dozen license plate readers and security cameras using a state grant. Residents said they’d learned about the rollout only after cameras started going up on telephone poles around town. “These cameras are not going to keep us safe,” resident Sandra Kalinowski told the board, drawing applause from the crowd. Another resident, David Lynch, pushed the board to reverse course entirely. “First I believe these cameras are currently in violation of Saranac Lake Police Department policy. Secondly, I believe the public has been misled about Flock’s access to our data. My ask of you tonight is
Aug 19, 2026 · via nypost.com
NEWS
Daytona Beach debates police use of driver’s license photos in facial recognition cases
Daytona Beach City Commissioners will decide Wednesday whether police can continue using a statewide database of driver’s license photographs as part of facial recognition investigations.
Aug 19, 2026 · via clickorlando.com
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Daytona Beach City Commissioners will decide Wednesday whether police can continue using a statewide database of driver’s license photographs as part of facial recognition investigations. The vote, scheduled for 6 p.m., comes as law enforcement agencies increasingly use technology to help identify people suspected of crimes — while privacy advocates and residents question how far that technology should go. In Daytona Beach, police use facial recognition software to compare an image of a person to photographs in large databases, including driver’s license photos. The technology itself does not make an arrest or determine that someone is a suspect. Instead, the software generates potential matches that must then be reviewed by a person. For some Daytona Beach residents and visitors, facial recognition is simply another investigative tool. Embry-Riddle student JP Nass said he sees a practical benefit to the technology. “It’s easier to track and see who’s who. It’s better to catch people doing bad things.” Nass said he believes facial recognition should have a legitimate investigative reason behind its use rather than being used simply to identify people. “Only if you have a reason to do it.” But other residents are more concerned about the amount of information law enforcement can collect and how that information is used. Daytona Beach police also use Flock cameras, which can collect information about vehicles traveling through the city. Brian Turnipsed said he is uncomfortable with that type of surveillance, particularly when the technology is operated by a third party. “That I feel is an invasion of privacy. There’s no one manning them. They’re just out there run by a third party.” Turnipsed said there should be limits on how law enforcement tracks people, particularly when there is no probable cause. “I still feel like if they’re going after you,
Aug 19, 2026 · via clickorlando.com
Facial Recognition Startup ClarityCheck Left 9 Million Face Photos on an Unsecured Server A people-search tool that promises to identify anyone from a single photograph left more than 9 million image files, including close-ups of adults, teenagers, and children, sitting on an unsecured cloud server for months, according to research published this week. The database, traced to the facial-recognition service ClarityCheck, contained roughly 450 GB of images stored in an Amazon S3 bucket without password protection or encryption. Anyone with the right URL could have browsed folders labeled "faces" and "profiles," downloading what appeared to be profile pictures, screenshots, and other photographs. A second misconfiguration also exposed email addresses and phone numbers through the company's website. The findings come from Jeremiah Fowler, an independent security researcher who has documented a long string of exposed databases in recent years. Fowler told WIRED that he discovered the open bucket while investigating ClarityCheck and that his initial attempts to notify the company went unanswered. The database was only secured after WIRED contacted ClarityCheck in July. ClarityCheck is among the growing number of so-called people-finder tools that have proliferated online. The company's website advertises searches by phone number, email address, vehicle identification number, and name. Its photo-search page claims it can "identify anyone in a photo" and locate social media profiles "in seconds." A WIRED reporter who tested the service with their own face watched as the site said it was "scanning facial landmarks" and "mapping unique face geometry" before returning a report that included the reporter's full name, biography, and links to multiple online photos. The company offers deeper reports, including "hidden dating profiles," for a fee. The site requires users to attest that they have permission to upload any photo they submit. But Fowler argues that this safeguard is essentially meaningless for
Aug 19, 2026 · via finance.biggo.com
The story so far: The Supreme Court on Tuesday (August 18, 2026) said it will examine the “proportionality” of the use of facial recognition system (FRS) deployed during the students’ protest in the national capital last month after the Delhi Police in an affidavit admitted to its use. The police said that “FRS does not automatically capture, create, generate, or maintain profiles of every individual present at the protest site, nor is it deployed for indiscriminate surveillance or collection of personal information of peaceful protesters unless he has a previous criminal record,” and assured that the use of the technology was “legitimate, bona fide, and proportionate policing measure”. However, the very nature of the system and its possibilities that, if left unchecked, could have extreme implications for public behaviour in the country is concerning. How does facial recognition work? While the use of the AI-powered product of machine learning to monitor a mass gathering is something new for many, facial recognition has been part of the everyday life of human beings around the world for some time. From screen locks in mobile phones to contactless air travel with DIGI Yatra initative, Indian are getting increasingly exposed to various degrees of FRS. The use of the technology can be broadly classified into two avenues, verification and identification. The most common use that has been incorporated into daily lives is verification where the system confirms the identity of a person from previously provided datasets, like in the case of mobile phone security systems. In case of identification processes, the system scans the distinguishable features of people and runs it against a database to determine their identity without them having to reveal it. Verification using FRS is voluntary while identification may or may not be done with the consent of those under the
Aug 19, 2026 · via thehindu.com