I promised on Slack to break some news on whether I have chicken pox.

The answer is… probably not? I went to the doctor and they said it’s more likely I am currently afflicted with an enterovirus. I will share my swab results when I get ‘em.

The News

Kmart’s facial recognition use breached many Australians’ privacy for little purpose

Kmart’s use of facial recognition technology (RFT) to deal with refund fraud broke Australia’s privacy law because it was overkill for little actual benefit, the privacy commissioner said (OAIC). After three years of investigation, the full decision (PDF) came down to the idea that scanning the faces of everyone who came into the 28 stores with FRT between 2020-22 was overly invasive and not very effective at dealing with people trying to rip off Kmart’s refund program. Kmart is banned from using FRT for this purpose again and must apologise for doing so.

The Sizzle: This is the second Australian privacy finding against FRT in retail, with the first being against Bunnings (which is currently going through an appeals process). But Kind emphasised that not all FRT use is banned. She wrote on LinkedIn that “each deployment will give rise to unique questions that require consideration under the Privacy Act”. Interestingly, Kind ended her blog by shading politicians for failing to pass a law that would address FRT specifically:

Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.

Tesla decides to redesign their door handles after linked deaths and investigations

Tesla will redesign its electric door handles that only work when the vehicle’s electrical system is operational (Engadget). A Bloomberg investigation linked several deaths and severe injuries to Tesla’s design choices for its doors, their handles and the backup manual releases. While it varies from model to model, no Tesla has a manual release that’s part of the electric door handle — and some models don’t even have any manual release for the rear doors. America’s car safety regulator says it’s investigating, citing how hard it is to find the release in high pressure situations like after a car crash (Engadget).

The Sizzle: I don’t want to be overly negative about Tesla but I find many of their design decisions baffling, often choosing form over function. Part of Tesla’s initial appeal was bringing a Silicon Valley mentality to EVs. The obvious problem with this approach is that the consequences for something not working — an app versus a car glitching — are very different. And, it seems, deadly.

Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.

Google glasses walked so Meta’s new smart glasses could run

A wristband and tiny screen are the headline changes to Meta’s smart glasses, which have emerged as its most successful hardware product (NBC News). Meta’s annual hardware event launched its first pair of smart glasses with a display and a wristband that uses your gestures to interact with its system, upgrades to its older models, and — what you’ve all been waiting for — improved graphics in its metaverse product Horizon Worlds (Verge).

The Sizzle: Google glasses are back! Except this time, they’re way more normal-looking Ray-Bans? Also the rest of the world has become a panopticon so maybe we’ll be fine with it now. One thing I couldn’t help but notice is how Mark Zuckerberg spoke about using the wristband to type on the smart glasses without anyone knowing. Like with the camera on the glasses, it’s weird that a selling point is being able to covertly use these devices?

Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.

Leftovers

Discuss these links in the Sizzle Slack or forum.

Oh, Also

How saliva is helping people beat video games faster

People will do crazy things to shave fractions off their time speed-running through video games. Including, as it turns out, licking their disc??? Here’s a YouTube video that explains how it works.

Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.

Bargains

Electrical & electronics

Computing

Mobile

The End

😎 The Sizzle is written by Cam Wilson and emailed every weekday. It was created by Anthony “decryption” Agius.

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The Sizzle is created on Gadigal land and acknowledges the traditional owners of country throughout Australia, recognising their continuing connection to land, water and community. I pay my respect to them and their cultures and to elders both past and present.