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    Today in Tech

    Facial recognition billboard only shows ads to women

    The billboard discriminates against men to highlight discrimination against women

    Facial recognition technology is gaining steam on Facebook as a tool to help you tag your photos. Police in Massachusetts are using facial recognition to take a bite out of crime. But does a new billboard in London, capable of determining your gender before deciding what ad to serve you, go a step too far?

    The $50,000 billboard uses facial recognition technology to decide whether the viewer is a male or a female. If the viewer is female, they're given the option to view a 40-second ad for Plan UK, a global children's charity. Males are instead directed to the Plan UK website.

    If the concept is a bit unsettling, that's the point. The billboard is meant to promote Plan UK's "Because I am a Girl" campaign, which aims to fight gender inequality. By discriminating against males, Plan UK hopes that men will get a taste "of what it's like to have basic choices taken away."

    "Millions of girls across the globe are being denied the right and choice to have an education," explains Plan UK CEO Marie Staunton. "This ad is a deliberate attempt to raise public debate on this issue."

    [Image source: Plan UK]

    (Source)

    This article was written by Fox Van Allen and originally appeared on Tecca

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    34 comments

    • NSWG-ST6  •  3 mths ago
      GREAT, I won't have to worry about seeing those tampon ads anymore.
    • BenjaminM  •  3 mths ago
      I think it's wonderful!!! as a Male i wont recieve nagging adverts that ask for my money! I hope they do this everywhere. Let the Womens Get nagged at. Please discriminate against me more and show all the commercials on TV to only the women too please! Dear Plan UK:please take away all the annoying adds because I am a male!!!! (hey Dumarses at Plan UK: you're doing it wrong) LULZ!!!!!
    • Alan Leary  •  Atlanta, Georgia  •  3 mths ago
      Teach people a lesson by discriminating. Sounds like something a bully would do.
    • t. k. Laurence  •  3 mths ago
      What's it do if the (target) is a transvestite or trans-sexual, does the screen go blank ???
      • AnthonyS 3 mths ago
        Exactly. It's not allowed to do anything because that would be discrimination
      • Quint 3 mths ago
        It probably catches fire (one of the bugs they're still working on)
    • Raylan  •  3 mths ago
      what happens if ure a man with smooth and silky hair?
      • Toruk Makto 3 mths ago
        Then, Adam Sandler must be your stylist?
    • Gnosis  •  Fort Worth, Texas  •  3 mths ago
      George Orwell must be turning in his grave.
    • Aaron  •  3 mths ago
      Any bets on how long until they are sued by some mannish-looking woman shown the male ad?
      • Olivia B 3 mths ago
        I was thinking about a feminine dude being shown the commercial but yeah lol
    • Trung  •  3 mths ago
      men dont' get discriminated against already? ... and that "discrimination" being talk about also put them at advantage in alot of situations.....
    • Thomas  •  3 mths ago
      It looks at 5 different points to determine if a person is male/ female with 80% success. Well, I can look at just 1 point and be 100% accurate, but ladies will have to walk around nake......nevermind. Hillary's walking around too.
    • Wallio S  •  3 mths ago
      and just when do you think was the last time anyone truly paid any attention to what was on a billboard
    • Laerlooper  •  Albany, New York  •  3 mths ago
      Charities that seek free money from the local community have no business messing with a subset of that community over troubles in some remote place on the other side of the world. Guys, don't let this go or else you might as well get used to it.
    • J  •  3 mths ago
      As a guy I wouldn't give a crap. I wouldn't feel bad. you are mistaken.What if a couple walks by then what? Half an ad?
    • foreigner427  •  3 mths ago
      A billboard that won't show me an ad because I'm a guy? Awsome, I hate ads.
    • JamesR  •  Morgantown, West Virginia  •  3 mths ago
      LOL. Finally, I get to ignor pleas for money. I suggest all billboards are made like this, the landscape might really improve, especially if it would just show a nice peaceful country scene!
    • rsm  •  Portsmouth, New Hampshire  •  3 mths ago
      waste of money.
    • Troy Deatherage  •  Kansas City, Missouri  •  3 mths ago
      What about transvestites and hermaphrodites? Nothing? Both? If I am standing at a bus stop and an apparently hot chick is standing next to me and the billboard shows her an ad and I take her out to dinner and she lets me get to second base, can I sue the billboard maker if I feel a woo woo there instead of a woo wom?
    • Benny  •  Portland, Oregon  •  3 mths ago
      Rather than spending $50,000 on a single billboard, they could have spent it toward funding schools for girls, thereby actually helping provide education.
      • Aaron 3 mths ago
        Why do something concrete to fix a problem when you can just complain?
      • Laerlooper 3 mths ago
        Benny, I believe this falls under "we're doing this because we can". That mindset is prevalent among the feminist types. But if the circumstances were reversed you can be sure they'd be ALL up in arms!
    • racefan  •  3 mths ago
      Can they be sued if they show the wrong ad?
    • Valerie  •  Los Angeles, California  •  3 mths ago
      Ever get online photos from those free companies? Now I have a file that has facial recognition for every photo I've taken. I went to an Indian Pow Wow - took pics - don't know the folks - now I've got all sorts of faces connected to me.

      This technology is beyond scary. What if your facial or sex id allows your rights to be withheld? Voting rights denied? Forced ultrasounds in Virginia?

      Sorry folks - the technology is smarter than the people who use them. Too many problems with this invasion of privacy.
    • AnythingExceptNFL...  •  3 mths ago
      You can bet that if they tried that in the US then when a (perhaps effeminate looking?) man has the ad shown to him he'd sue the company on the grounds that it made him feel less of a man. Or something.

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