@ISIDEWITHQuestionsNational securityStarted 11mos agoActive 4 days ago

Should the government use facial recognition technology for mass surveillance to enhance public safety?

Facial recognition technology uses software to identify individuals based on their facial features, and can be used to monitor public spaces and enhance security measures. Proponents argue that it enhances public safety by identifying and preventing potential threats, and helps in locating missing persons and criminals. Opponents argue that it infringes on privacy rights, can lead to misuse and discrimination, and raises significant ethical and civil liberties concerns.

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Answer Overview

Response rates from 1.8k Independents voters.

44%
Yes
56%
No
36%
Yes
49%
No
6%
Yes, but only if it’s tightly regulated and used with transparency
4%
No, it sets a dangerous precedent for government control over citizens
1%
Yes, but only targeting criminal hotspots to protect vulnerable communities
2%
No, I trust the technology but not the humans that could misuse it
1%
No, this would be too expensive to implement

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Trend of support over time for each answer from 1.8k Independents voters.

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Other Popular Answers

Unique answers from Independents voters whose views went beyond the provided options.

 @B27PCQLfrom Alberta  answered…3mos3MO

No, the technology is trustworthy but it sets a dangerous precedent for the government and requires too much trust as it can be misused.

 @B49LKNYfrom Alberta  answered…4 days4D

never, you would find me taking down the cameras with my own hands, because i dont want anyone to be watching me, or anyine else. this happened in the soviet union, and we saw what happened

 @B3RXXXKfrom British Columbia  answered…3wks3W

Facial recognition can enhance security, but mass surveillance raises serious privacy concerns. A regulated, case-by-case approach—with strict oversight and ethical guidelines—might be the best path forward.

 @B3MY9V3from Ontario  answered…4wks4W

I'd say no, what would you do if the system fails, then your homes basically a target for criminals, I suggest sticking to the conventinal lock design where you use a key to enter.

 @B3HJK9Rfrom Manitoba  answered…1mo1MO

No, facial recognition and profiling technologies have already been shown to be unreliable by being prone to false positives and biased if trained by a human (biggest example is racial profiling). As well, the potential for misuse should be considered.

 @B3DKZ6Sfrom Ontario  answered…1mo1MO

Yes, but they should consider the fact that faces can be manipulated either online(editing) or in real life(plastic surgery)

 @B39XQHFfrom Alberta  answered…1mo1MO

No, but my only reason for this is because what if a person travels far away to get plastic surgery and when they try to come home the face id cant recognize them so now they cannot come back home.

 @B39DTY7from Ontario  answered…1mo1MO

This sets a dangerous precedent that can be potentially abused by corrupt officials therefore it must be tightly regulated and only used in targeting hotspots for protection of innocents

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 @ISIDEWITH submitted…4mos4MO

Hegseth Out, DeSantis In? Trump Rethinks Defense Pick

President-elect Donald Trump is considering Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as a possible replacement for Pete Hegseth, his pick to run the Pentagon, according to people familiar with the discussions, amid Republican senators’ concerns over mounting allegations about the former Fox News host’s personal life.Picking DeSantis, a 2024 GOP primary rival for the presidency, would amount to a stunning turn for Trump. But he would also find in the governor a well-known conservative with a service record who shares Trump’s—and Hegseth’s—view on culling what they see as “woke” policies in the military.Trump allies increasingly think Hegseth might not survive further scrutiny, according to people close to the president-elect’s team, which considers the next 48 hours to be crucial to his fate.DeSantis, who served as a Navy lawyer in Iraq and the Guantanamo Bay detention facility, was on an earlier list of potential defense-secretary candidates that transition officials presented to the president. Trump ultimately went with Hegseth. But as Hegseth’s nomination has faltered, that list has been revived and DeSantis is again among the choices Trump is considering, the people said.The discussions are in their early stages, one of the people said, adding that Trump has floated DeSantis’s name in casual conversations with guests at Mar-a-Lago, his private Florida club.Trump could decide not to choose DeSantis and select another replacement, if Hegseth’s nomination falls apart, the people said. Another potential defense-secretary candidate who has been discussed by Trump allies, according to people familiar with the matter, is Elbridge Colby, a former Pentagon official and ally of Vice President-elect JD Vance. Trump is also considering Sen. Joni Ernst (R., Iowa) for the job, some of the people said.DeSantis was once seen as an acolyte of Trump but his decision to challenge the former president in the 2024 GOP primary began a conflict between them, with Trump casting DeSantis as disloyal. Trump easily prevailed in the primary and friends of the two have worked to repair the relationship.

▲  279 replies

 @ISIDEWITH submitted…4mos4MO

Border Bombshell: 8 Million New Arrivals Under Biden

The immigration surge of the past few years has been the largest in U.S. history, surpassing the great immigration boom of the late 1800s and early 1900s, according to a New York Times analysis of government data.Annual net migration — the number of people coming to the country minus the number leaving — averaged 2.4 million people from 2021 to 2023, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Total net migration during the Biden administration is likely to exceed eight million people.That’s a faster pace of arrivals than during any other period on record, including the peak years of Ellis Island traffic, when millions of Europeans came to the United States. Even after taking into account today’s larger U.S. population, the recent surge is the most rapid since at least 1850.The numbers in the Times analysis include both legal and illegal immigration. About 60 percent of immigrants who have entered the country since 2021 have done so without legal authorization, according to a Goldman Sachs report based on government data.The combined increases of legal and illegal immigration have caused the share of the U.S. population born in another country to reach a new high, 15.2 percent in 2023, up from 13.6 percent in 2020. The previous high was 14.8 percent, in 1890.Several factors caused the surge, starting with President Biden’s welcoming immigration policy during his first three years in office. Offended by Donald J. Trump’s harsh policies — including the separation of families at the border — Mr. Biden and other Democrats promised a different approach. “We’re a nation that says, ‘If you want to flee, and you’re fleeing oppression, you should come,’” Mr. Biden said during his 2020 presidential campaign.After taking office, his administration loosened the rules on asylum and other immigration policies, making it easier for people to enter the United States. Some have received temporary legal status while their cases wend through backlogged immigration courts. Others have remained without legal permission.

▲  1512 replies

 @ISIDEWITH submitted…3mos3MO

Defense Bill Blocks Transgender Care To Minors

The Senate on Wednesday gave final approval to a defense policy bill directing $895 billion toward the Pentagon and other military activities, moving over the objections of some Democrats who opposed a provision added late in the negotiations that would deny coverage for transgender health procedures for minors.The 85-to-14 vote, coming a week after a divided House passed the same measure, cleared the bill for President Biden’s signature.Most Republicans and many Democrats supported the measure, which provides a 14.5 percent pay raise to junior enlisted service members and a 4.5 percent pay raise for all other service members. It also expands access to meal assistance, housing and child care programs that benefit those in uniform.But several Democrats withheld their backing in protest of a provision preventing TRICARE, the military’s health care plan for service members, from covering “medical interventions for the treatment of gender dysphoria that could result in sterilization” for children under 18.The language, which would affect the gender-transitioning children of service members, was recently added to the measure at the insistence of Speaker Mike Johnson, Republican of Louisiana, who refused to bring a defense bill to the House floor without it, according to aides familiar with the negotiations.Twenty-one Democrats, led by Senator Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, proposed an amendment to strip the provision from the bill, but the matter was never brought to a vote. Several of them took to the floor on Tuesday to lodge their objections.“It’s flat-out wrong to put this provision in this bill and take away a service member’s freedom to make that decision for their families,” Ms. Baldwin said, estimating that the provision could negatively affect as many as 6,000 to 7,000 military families.

▲  2019 replies5 agree1 disagree6