Students from Canadian Universities Discover a Hidden Camera in Vending Machines
The University of Waterloo, located in Canada, has decided to remove its smart M&M vending machines from campus after the discovery by students that the machines were covertly outfitted with face recognition technology, without the agreement or knowledge of the students.
The uproar started when a student posted a picture of the computer with the error notice “Invenda.Vending.FacialRecognitionApp.exe Application Error” on Reddit. Students expressed alarm at the surprising finding, with many questioning if face recognition technology was really needed in a vending machine.
Fourth-year student River Stanley researched the topic for a piece that appeared in the school newspaper MathNEWS. Due to privacy concerns, the university chose to remove these computers even though students came up with inventive solutions to hide the camera hole.
An investigation showed that Adaria Vending Services Limited provided the smart vending machines, which were owned by MARS and manufactured by Invenda. The student discovered throughout the process that while the corporation can get more specific data, some of the data acquired by the smart vending machines was innocuous, such as sales and UI performance metrics.
You may forward this information to Mars and other relevant parties. The devices may transmit approximated data, such as each user’s age and gender, according to Invenda’s sales brochures.
Adaria Vending Services responded to the issue by saying, “The technology in the machines does not allow for the identification of a specific individual, nor do they take or store any photos or images.” The device uses the technology as a motion sensor to identify faces, allowing it to determine when to turn on the purchase interface.
These devices, which are used at several sites throughout North America, are completely GDPR compliant thanks to a collaboration with Mars and Invenda. Adaria does not have access to user identification information or gather any data about its users from these M&M vending machines.
The article also brought attention to a previous dispute between Cadillac Fairview, a retail center, and Canada’s privacy commissioner. It was discovered years ago that some of the information desks in the mall were equipped with covert face recognition software. Over 5 million Canadians were scanned without their permission, according to an official probe. The mall was thus compelled to erase the whole database.
“It’s a university campus, so I feel like the general demographic is young adults,” River Stanley remarked in an interview with CTV. Late teens, early twenties, you know. I thought it necessary to be acknowledged that it has been shown to be against privacy laws, especially when it comes to the lack of meaningful consent that has been stated.
The student also expressed doubts about Invenda’s openness, citing the company’s use of face recognition technology in its smart vending machines as one area of worry. Additionally, he believes that the business could be flagrantly breaking Canadian privacy laws. In response, the University of Waterloo moved quickly to ask that all 29 computers be pulled out of Invenda. They have also been asked to deactivate their software by the institution.
