The Obama administration said Tuesday they plan to review the privacy implications of facial recognition technology ahead of reported plans to implement the system nationwide in the next two years.
A Commerce Department spokesman said they recognize the concerns of privacy advocates and tech groups and will be working with them to specifically identify the problems with the technology.
“Facial recognition technology has the potential to improve services for consumers, support innovation by businesses, and affect identification and authentication online and offline,” Larry Strickling, the administrator of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration told The Hill. “However, the technology poses distinct consumer privacy challenges … and the importance of securing faceprints and ensuring consumers’ appropriate control over their data is clear.”
Concerns about the technology first arose when Facebook began cataloging user profile pictures into a system that allowed them to auto-tag photos of people. Several Democratic senators applauded the Commerce Department decision to further investigate the situation.
“Clear policies that support consumer privacy are crucial as facial recognition technology is developed and deployed,” Democratic Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts said.
In a blow to religious freedom, the lawsuit brought by Liberty University concerning controversial parts of the Obamacare law has been dismissed after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the case.
The filing by Liberty covered a variety of objections to the law including the individual mandate requiring individuals to purchase health insurance.
The dismissal comes as the court agreed to hear two challenges to Obamacare regarding the requirement of Christian business owners to pay for medical procedures that go against God’s word such as abortion. That case will be heard before the end of June.
The court’s refusal of the case also dismissed claims made by two individuals against Obamacare.
The U.S. Supreme Court said they will hear arguments for cases involving the Obamacare requirement for health plans to cover birth control as it relates to for-profit companies.
The two cases will be heard together. The first involves Christian retailer Hobby Lobby and the second a Pennsylvania wood products manufacturer. Both busineses claim the mandate that requires them to provide “morning after pills” in employee health care plans violates their Christian beliefs because the drugs essentially produce abortions.
The Court must decide whether a company can have First Amendment religious freedom protections. The Supreme Court likely took the case because lower courts have split on the issue with Hobby Lobby winning their case and Conestoga Wood Specialties losing in lower federal courts.
“My family and I are encouraged that the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to decide our case,” Steve Green, Hobby Lobby’s founder and CEO, told the Christian Post. “This legal challenge has always remained about one thing and one thing only: the right of our family businesses to live out our sincere and deeply held religious convictions as guaranteed by the law and the Constitution. Business owners should not have to choose between violating their faith and violating the law.”
President Obama and other world leaders were hailing an agreement with Iran to put some controls on that country’s nuclear program but throughout the Middle East the news of the agreement was met with anger and skepticism.
Saudi Arabian officials were furious that American negotiators and those connected to the Obama administration had not briefed them at all regarding the deal with Iran. A senior advisor to the Saudi royal family said they had been lied to and that the Obama administration had hidden information from them. He said Saudi leaders were not necessarily upset with the deal but the way it was handled by Washington.
The Saudi government eventually issued a moderately supportive statement about the deal.
“This agreement could be a first step towards a comprehensive solution for Iran’s nuclear program, if there are good intentions,” the statement read.
Meanwhile, Israel reiterated their opposition to the deal. Israeli Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon said that all options are on the table for his nation.
“We are not in a position of making a mistake or to gamble with our future,” Danon said. “That is why I am saying it very clear. All options are still on the table. And if we see that Iran continues with the effort to build a nuclear bomb, we will do whatever is necessary to protect ourselves.”
The wife of an American pastor imprisoned in Iran for being a Christian is outraged that the Obama Administration did nothing to secure her husband’s release while in talks over that country’s nuclear program.
The White House confirmed over the weekend that they made no efforts at all to secure the release of Saeed Abedini during the nuclear negotiations.
“It’s unbearable,” Naghmeh Abedini said to Fox News, “to think of another Christmas without him and see my kids not have him home for Christmas.”
Abedini’s supporters say the deal with Iran takes America’s best leverage off the table for the release of the persecuted pastor.
Jay Sekulow of the American Center for Law And Justice said that President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry have “turned their backs on a U.S. citizen.”
A push from the Obama Administration to ease sanctions against Iran even if that country does not stop their nuclear program is causing severe tension between Washington and Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took the rare step of blasting the U.S. in public demanding to know why President Obama was in such a hurry to lift sanctions against a country that has sworn to destroy Israel.
Some analysts believe that the current push by the Obama Administration to ease or remove sanctions against Iran for their nuclear program is an indication they’ve given up on attempting to broker a peace deal between Israel and Palestinians.
The White House issued a statement saying that President Obama had called Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu on Friday to talk about the negotiations with Iran and to reaffirm the U.S. commitment to keeping that country from obtaining a nuclear bomb. However, the statement did not include a reference the two men discussed the peace talks which is the first time a phone conversation between the leaders did not include that topic.
Israeli officials say that Obama’s hurried negotiations with Iran have stripped away most of the goodwill he built up during a March visit to Israel.