Vending machines are best placed where people are abundant, so naturally, campuses are good locations for business. However, smart vending machines in one university raised concerns after it was discovered to have facial recognition technology.
Vending Machines with Eyes
Having a camera on a vending machine can be a standard security measure to prevent people from vandalizing or stealing from it. It's a different topic when one finds out that the vending machine can actually recognize your face.
A student publication from the University of Waterloo, where the vending machines can be found, has published a report on the matter. This led to the campus eventually being removed, especially after the issue made headlines, as per Business Insider.
The purpose of the facial recognition technology on the machines has not been disclosed, but there are a variety of reasons why it was part of the machine in the first place. For one, it might've been used for advertising.
Oxford Internet Institute professor Chris Russell said that with facial recognition, owners or operators of the vending machine can tell advertisers ads are being personalized based on the customers recognized by the technology.
Once facial recognition determines the age and gender of the potential buyer, the machine can start the appropriate ads for them. What's more concerning is that Russell believes that the situation could get more common, given that it's very easy and cheap to install facial recognition into systems.
In the case of the campus vending machines, the professor stated that it might not be actively using the tech. "Based on the error message, it looks like it's hooked into a huge bunch of additional code which could do facial recognition but is not turned on."
The company behind the machines, Adaria Vending Services, clarified that "an individual person cannot be identified using the technology in the machines," nor does it store any photos. It simply acts as a motion detector that allows the machine to activate the purchasing interface.
Why It Could Be Dangerous
Although the company says that it does not store images within the system, that does not mean that the camera and the facial recognition system cannot be exploited. Smart vending machines are usually connected to the internet so they can be remotely operated and maintained.
With such connectivity, it might also be accessible to bad actors, especially if the security system is not strong enough to prevent such attacks. The camera can be an easy way to monitor people within a campus or other locations where the vending machine is stored.
Russell added that potentially, "you can imagine that hospitals might install these vending machines or places like abortion clinics," making it an attractive target for hackers and a privacy concern for those who use them.
While these technologies are a great way to make sure that the machines remain unharmed, or even find a way to make a more personalized purchase experience for customers, businesses should make sure that their security system is robust enough to whether any kind of system breaches.
