Facial recognition identifies dead Russian soldiers

Facial recognition identifies dead Russian soldiers

Author: BBC World Service March 29, 2022 Duration: 47:26

It’s been reported that Ukraine is receiving help to identify Russian infiltrators or ID dead soldiers. A facial recognition company called Clearview AI is offering access to its database of billions of facial images. We’ve reported on Clearview before as it has been accused of overstating its algorithms’ effectiveness as well as being fined by data regulators. Rhiannon Williams of MIT Download is on the programme and has been following the story.

How Ukraine isn’t winning the Information War The assumption in the West is that Ukraine and President Zelensky are dominating the narrative online, but according to a new analysis that’s only the way it seems in the western social media bubble. 23 million tweets which included hashtags like #IstandwithPutin and #IstandwithRussia were monitored to see how and where they were sent. The White paper just published by CASM Technology shows that Russia is targeting BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) and more generally Africa and Asia. Carl Miller from CASM explains what they’ve found and why we can’t assume that everyone around the world is getting the same online messages.

Okta data breach – who, what, where, why, when and how Okta is probably one of the biggest tech companies in the world you’ve never heard of until now. Its customers use its software to allow employees to work remotely by accessing their systems from outside the office. However, they had a data breach back in January and now the hacking group Lapsus$ is claiming it may have accessed more data than Okta is willing to admit. Protocol’s Sarah Roach explains what’s happened and why possibly millions of logins from around the world could be impacted.

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Bill Thompson.

Studio Manager: Duncan Hannant Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

(Image: Facial Recognition Concept. Credit:Getty Images)


Every week, the team at Digital Planet from the BBC World Service takes you beyond the headlines to explore how technology is reshaping lives, cultures, and economies across the globe. This isn't just a rundown of gadget releases or corporate earnings; it's a grounded conversation about the real-world impact of our digital choices. You'll hear from engineers in Nairobi, policymakers in Brussels, and coders in São Paulo, offering a genuinely international perspective that challenges the usual Silicon Valley narrative. Each episode digs into the human stories behind the innovations, examining both the promise and the peril of our connected age. We tackle questions about ethics, accessibility, and the unintended consequences of progress, making sense of complex issues with clear, thoughtful reporting. Tune in for a nuanced and curious exploration of our technological moment, where the focus is always on the people designing, using, and living with these tools every day. This podcast provides the context you need to understand not just what's new, but what it actually means.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

Digital Planet
Podcast Episodes
First-ever unassisted robotic surgery [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 43:00
The first-ever robotic surgery without a human surgeon guiding it has been successfully performed at Johns Hopkins University. The Smart Tissues Autonomous Robot (STAR) completed a keyhole procedure called intestinal ana…
Internet connectivity still patchy in Tonga [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 43:48
Connectivity to Tonga partially restored but undersea cable repair could take weeks. The underwater volcanic eruption severed the country’s only underwater network cable and ash clouds have made satellite connectivity im…
Twitter returns to Nigeria [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 46:40
After 222 days the social media platform is back up and running in Nigeria. The country suspended Twitter after it deleted a tweet by President Buhari and Nigerians have been accessing the platform via VPN, but now Twitt…
Robots under the Thwaites Glacier [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 44:36
Huge robots, including a seven-metre two-tonne vessel named Ran, are on their way to the Thwaites Glacier to learn more about the retreating ice and its impact on Climate Change. But this won’t be the only tech that’s be…
Afrofuturism and tech innovation [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 44:13
This week we have a special programme on Afrofuturism and tech innovation. It’s a subject often covered in science fiction, but what makes Afrofuturism different from standard science fiction is that ancient African trad…
A tech review of 2021 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 49:16
We look back on some of the stories we covered in 2021 – from age appropriate design to protect children, through internet shutdowns, a remote air traffic control tower and a WhatsApp school in Zimbabwe to a virtual real…
The Internet Archive is 25! [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 43:42
Twenty-five years ago the world wide web was 2.5 terabytes and you needed to dial-up via your phone line to get onto it, so Brewster Kahle decided to set up a project to archive what was out there already. Now the Intern…
Brazil: Where is all the Covid data? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 37:02
Ministry of Health websites in Brazil are still down following a number of cyber-attacks. Millions of people now do not have access to their Covid-19 vaccination data (including certificates). It is estimated that 50TB o…
Mobile phones not always beneficial to displaced people [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 47:08
New research shows that mobile phones may not be as beneficial to displaced people as previously thought. Using video diaries, where displaced people in Somalia recorded their mobile phone use, researchers found that wom…
PIX instant payment limits to reduce kidnappings [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 42:44
PIX instant payment limits to reduce kidnappings Last year the PIX instant payment system was introduced in Brazil. It currently has 112 million registered users – that’s 62% of the population. It’s proving incredibly po…