News of the World

[kyonides]

UK threatens Clearview AI with nearly $23M fine
over its facial recognition tech

British regulators say they intend to fine Clearview AI, a facial recognition company that bills itself as the world’s largest, nearly $23 million for “alleged serious breaches” of the nation’s data protection laws.

The fines stem from a joint investigation by the U.K. Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) and its Australian counterpart. The ICO now awaits a response from Clearview AI before possibly levying the fine in mid-2022.
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U.K. Information Commissioner Elizabeth Denham said on Monday “Clearview AI Inc’s services are no longer being offered in the UK. However, the evidence we’ve gathered and analysed suggests Clearview AI Inc were and may be continuing to process significant volumes of UK people’s information without their knowledge.”
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In the U.K., the ICO is perturbed that Clearview AI may have collected images of people in the U.K. without their knowledge by scraping social media platforms and other online sources. U.K. law enforcement agencies also used Clearview AI services but on a trial basis, and the company’s services are no longer available in that country.

Beyond concerns about collecting information without individuals’ knowledge, the ICO says that Clearview AI appears to have failed to comply with U.K. data protection laws in other ways, such as not having a process to keep data from being retained indefinitely and not meeting higher protection standards for biometric data.

Germany: Burglars knock hole in wall to steal Lego bricks

German police are looking for witnesses after burglars broke through the wall of a toy store to steal dozens of Lego sets.

Police said Tuesday that the theft took place over the weekend in the western town of Lippstadt.

The burglars left about 100 empty cardboard boxes behind, German news agency dpa reported.

It wasn’t immediately clear whether the burglars had taken the instruction books.

 Perhaps they needed to build a golem  lego set.

Amazing Japanese Artist Hand Cuts
3-Dimensional Octopus From a Single Sheet of Paper

Rendered by hand and as delicate as fine lace, this Japanese artist’s paper-cut art is winning people over with its impressive and incredible details.

Born in 1973, Masayo Fukuda—known as “Kiriken Masayo”—has mastered the art of kirigami, or paper cutting, with about 30 years spent studying the intricate practice.

The talented artist who hails from Chiba Prefecture, Japan, has enjoyed working with her hands ever since she was a child. Being a huge fan of cartoons, she would draw made-up characters inspired by her favorite manga characters and loves the work of Katsuhiro Otomo to this day.

An art graduate who also works repairing watches by trade, Masayo first discovered her passion for paper cutouts when she was in high school.
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A life-sized octopus, rendered on a single sheet of white A2 paper using an artist’s scalpel, is widely considered one of her best works. Thanks to Masayo’s dexterity, each bulging eye and every undulating tentacle appears to lift straight off the page.

“The point I was particular about was the depth and three-dimensionality of the overlapping legs,” Masayo said, referring to the paper-cut octopus she made in 2018. “I drew it over and over, looked at it from a distance, drew it, and redrew it again. It took about two months from the rough sketch to completion."