Facial recognition accumulates problems

Facial recognition accumulates problems

An NBC investigation reveals the use of images without consent

  Facial recognition continues to make inroads in the world of smartphones and also in the different security devices in cities. However, although it keeps updating and improving its algorithm, it shows more and more bias problems.

The most advanced in the field is Amazon with its Rekognition system, although it has been involved in more than one scandal. Now, the ball is on the roof of IBM after an investigation of the US network NBC.

   Algorithms and machine learning need continuous training with images and the large bank of photographs is internet. The network of networks stores a wide range of faces. Users upload their favorite photos to the cloud, share their funniest moments on social networks.

With this information, researchers and academics can collect hundreds of data on sex, age, race and facial features, despite all the final problems of facial recognition tools.

This investigation, revealed by NBC, points to IBM as the latest company to join this training. The American technology launched in January a collection of almost one million photos taken from Flickr, according to NBC.

Through these images, IBM worked to reduce the bias present in facial recognition tools. However, the research reveals that the technology company did not contact the users and owners of the images for the company's investigation.

For training the IBM algorithm they took the images with details that included facial geometry and skin tone and that could be used to develop facial recognition algorithms.

Before the start-up of this type of tools, the software needs a set-up for its correct operation. Beyond its final goal, this type of tool works in four steps.

Before activating, the cameras that make up the system capture the face of the person to be identified in the chosen device. Next, the program obtains the biometric information of the facial features, which make up the so-called facial biometric pattern.

Later, the biometric information compares the information gathered with the existing ones in the database and this is where the biggest problems have been found in Amazon and where IBM has built its large gallery from Flickr.

Finally, the facial recognition system identifies the face as the one that has obtained the highest percentage of similarity among those consulted, based on a very high coincidence threshold.

According to a study conducted by the MIT Media Lab, facial recognition is more accurate for white men and has many more flaws for people with darker skin, especially women. Specifically, this report noted that Microsoft and IBM applications erroneously identified women with darker skin 35% of the time and men with darker skin 12%.

1,735 new staff positions to alleviate the effects of 'Brexit'

1,735 new staff positions to alleviate the effects of 'Brexit'

The areas that need more reinforcement are border control of people, customs and external sanitary inspection services

  The 'Brexit' is the reason why the Council of Ministers approved on Friday a preview of a part of the Public Employment Offer (OEP) for the year 2019. Specifically, 1,735 places will be convened to strengthen the services affected by the departure of the United Kingdom of the European Union. This is a figure higher than what had been announced: 350 new officials.

Of this personnel reinforcement of 1,735 personnel, 875 correspond to public employees or jobs of the General State Administration (AGE) and 860 for services provided by public companies, mainly AENA and Puertos del Estado.

The 875 new officers for the AGE are divided among the departments of Finance (462 seats); Territorial Policy and Public Function (135); Interior (59); Agriculture and Fisheries (30), Health, Consumption and Social Welfare (18); Industry, Commerce and Tourism (51), and Education, Culture and Sports (18). The remaining places go to the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation (26 places), Development (62), Justice (3), Economy (5) and Ecological Transition (6).

The most relevant areas that need personnel reinforcement are border control of people, customs control and external sanitary inspection services, both for the import and export of goods. Other affected sectors are the control of the security in the transport of travelers, the offices of extranjería and the attention to the British citizens, as well

activities to promote the internationalization of Spanish companies or the activity of the representation of Spain in the United Kingdom.

The Ministry states that "it is necessary to have a majority of these troops before March 29, the date on which the departure from the United Kingdom is scheduled, with or without agreement, so it is necessary to act sufficiently in advance".

Union opposition
Some unions criticized the urgency of a measure that has been made without negotiating with workers' organizations beforehand. Thus, CSIF regretted the "botched" and "improvisation" in approving this reinforcement of troops who, they warned, will take up to two years to join, so that most places will be filled with interim personnel.

Along these same lines, CC OO regretted this decision, which it considers "is a violation of the principles of collective bargaining" by having carried it out without prior consultation with the unions. For the organization led by Unai Sordo, the approval of these places comes "by surprise", when there are still pending calls for the Public Employment Offer of 2017 and practically the whole of 2018. It also points out that if the Government considers that there is An extraordinary need must be solved with an Employment Offer that is also, and therefore additional to that corresponding to 2019.

The Ibex-35 falls 1.8% in its second consecutive week of falls

The Ibex-35 falls 1.8% in its second consecutive week of falls

Only six values ​​of the selective dodged the losses in the day of this Friday

   The Ibex-35 was in negative from the first hour of the morning. The Spanish selective during the first third of the session was around 8,900 points, but after twelve thirty was gradually increasing their declines. With this, at the close, a cut of 0.91%, to give a final change in the 8,856.8 points. In the week it has lost 1.80%. This is his second consecutive week of losses after four consecutive advances, all of January, in which the index went from less than 8,500 points to almost 9,200.

Only six values ​​of the selective dodged the losses in the day today. Viscofán and Meliá Hotels were the best, with gains of 1.46% and 1.16%, respectively. After Sabadell was placed, which added 0.23%, while Mapfre advanced 0.17%.

CaixaBank and Cellnex were the other values ​​that were saved from the red, but were only able to close the day without changes.

In red, ArcelorMittal was the value that fell the most, with a cut of 4.74%. Then Grifols was placed, which was left 2.93%. Cie Automotive, Acerinox and Técnicas Reunidas lost more than two percentage points.

Among the big values, the worst was Telefónica, which fell 1.76%. Inditex and Repsol also fell more than 1%.

In the General Index of the Madrid Stock Exchange, Adolfo Domínguez was the most profitable value, with a revaluation of 8.81%. Nextil was the worst, with a cut of 44.74%.

During the week, only seven stocks were saved in the Ibex-35, the most profitable of which was Viscofán, with a rise of 2.16%. ArcelorMittal has been the worst, with a cut of 7.86%, followed by Técnicas Reunidas, which has fallen by more than 6%. CaixaBank, Mediaset, Sabadell and Cie Automotive have lost more than 5%.

Day and week to the low
All the Old Continent closed the last session of the week with decreases. The German Dax was the worst performer, with a decrease of 1.05%. The PSI-20 of Lisbon left 0.88%. Meanwhile, the Ftse Mib in Milan fell by 0.65% and the Cac 40 by France, almost half a percentage point. Something better was done by the British FTSE 100, which left 0.32%.

And practically all of them also accumulated losses in the last five sessions. The only one that dodged the declines was the British Ftse 100, which scored 0.73%. The worst of all was the German Dax, which fell 2.45%.

On Wall Street, the day of Friday also started at a loss. The Dow Jones, at the close of the European session, was left around one percentage point, while the S & P 500 lost 0.8%, and the Nasdaq was down 0.6%.

For the indices of the United States Stock Exchange, this would be the first week in the red in this 2019. Although, to end in the current records, the declines in the main indices of the United States would not reach the percentage point.

During the week, they have weighed uncertainties about global economic growth, with data and worrying forecasts especially in the Old Continent. In addition, after several weeks of some reassurance about the trade war, and even hope for a possible good conclusion, fears have again escaped that an agreement between the United States and China is not possible. And Washington caresses again the idea of ​​a new closure of the Administration.

Fears of new commercial tensions led to declines for the third consecutive session in emerging markets.

Decreases in bond yields
While stock markets have had a good week, in the debt market, money has continued to enter, sinking bond yields, especially in Germany. The interest of the German ten-year bond has fallen to 0.08%, its lowest level since October 2016.

On the downside, the yield of the American bond to ten years continues, moving back from 2.65% to 2.62%.

This behavior of the bonds reflects that investors believe that in the future there will be less growth and, therefore, will be necessary less increases in interest rates.

In the commodity market, the barrel of Brent, a benchmark in Europe, closed the session with a decrease of 0.44% to 61.36 dollars. The barrel of West Texas, of reference in the United States, fell by 0.74% at the European bell, to $ 52.25.

The price of gold rose 0.32% to $ 1,314 an ounce.

KEYS OF THE SESSION

-The Ibex-35 closed the session with a decrease of 0.91%, to give a final change in the 8,856.80 points.

-Viscofán and Meliá led the promotions, with gains of more than 1%. In addition, four other values ​​were saved from the losses. In red, the worst, ArcelorMittal, which fell 4.74%.

-The profitability of the German ten-year bond fell to 0.08%, another minimum since the autumn of 2016.

The 'twin peaks' model to reform regulators

The 'twin peaks' model to reform regulators

The Bank of Spain would be responsible for the macroprudential supervision and solvency of banks, insurance and operators, while the CNMV to monitor the conduct and marketing of products

  The Agenda for Change includes a change in the institutional architecture of the financial regulation bodies under the 'twin peaks' model, which separates the protection of the financial client from the supervision of the solvency of the entities. And it is that many problems in the commercialization of financial products were due to the fact that those who had to protect the consumer also had to watch over the financial entities.

Therefore, the Government's proposal is to divide in two the financial supervision with a body that monitors the solvency of the banks, insurances and operators - the Bank of Spain - and another that oversees the behavior and the commercialization of the products - the CNMV- . This means rescuing the old plan proposed by the PSOE in 2016, which is already valid in many countries such as the United Kingdom.

In addition, one of the actions to reduce the inequality that includes the 85-page document presented on Friday by the Government is the adoption of measures to ensure the presence of 40% of women on the boards of companies. "In the next few months measures of law will be promoted to address the gender gap in the occupational field," says the text.

The AP-7 and AP-4, without toll since 2020 while defining the new model of the motorways

The AP-7 and AP-4, without toll since 2020 while defining the new model of the motorways

The Government raises the need for some payment mechanism for the entire network, but there is no parliamentary consensus and it has to decide on the concessions that expire

  The Government seems to walk between two waters regarding the future of the national system of toll motorways. And it is that although it made the first public concession of this type of roads recovered by the State free, and will do the same with two others at the expiration of its current contract, it is still unclear what model it would want in the medium term to finance all the net.

  In fact, in several forums with concessionaires and construction companies held in recent months, it has opened the door to the possibility of establishing payment mechanisms in all or part of it. It has been through the mouth of the Minister of Public Works, José Luis Ábalos, who criticizes that it is "the only transportation infrastructure that is intended to be free", when in the rest of them - ports, airports and railways - fees or royalties are paid . The annual cost of maintaining this network for the State that amounts to 11,000 million euros, a sum that the Executive sees no viable continue to pay without having new resources because its length (20,000 kilometers today) does not stop growing.

Although it has avoided opting for one option or another - "you have to choose one, whatever it is", he says - it is clear that there should be a single "egalitarian" system for all of Spain, that does not discriminate against some citizens (for a fee). ) versus others. A priori there would be three main options on the table: a hard and pure toll, which would be in principle permanent and with annual tariff revisions; one "soft" only for some groups, or one that was higher for them -for example, the truck drivers for the greater weight of their vehicles and the wear and tear that this causes in the asphalt-, although another option would be to be charged in the areas of greater congestion and in the hours where it was given; finally, there would be the payment in the "shadow", which is not charged directly to the user,

That model should be agreed upon in a subcommittee of Congress, but given the difficulty of reaching agreements in this legislature, the Government has preferred to make the routes whose concession is won free. It passed from December 1 with the AP-1 between Burgos and Armiñón (Álava), and will happen again from January 1, 2020 with the Tarragona-Alicante (AP-7) and Seville-Cádiz (AP-4) highways . The next three, including the Madrid-Zaragoza AP-2, will continue with their contracts until August 2021. Of course, the unions have warned that if the toll booths are eliminated, jobs will be lost, up to a thousand in the PA alone. -7 and AP-4; That is why they are calling on the Government to relocate these professionals to similar posts in other ways.

The bankrupt roads, waiting

In parallel, the State will maintain in its power the nine bankruptcy payment channels - this Friday took control of the last one, the Madrid-Toledo motorway, together with part of the ring road of the Castilian-Manchego capital, at least until 2022 In that period should have been resolved their bankruptcy proceedings and, a priori, be tendered again in a process where the previous Executive expected to get between 700 and 1,000 million euros, although precisely the interest of infrastructure concession companies in that process has been "relative", acknowledges the minister.

And is that as the government plan was to reduce tolls, and also lower the maximum period of concession, the business would give these highways would be clearly lower than expected. But neither the State can lower much more their economic demands, since that money would be used later to cover part of the patrimonial responsibility (RPA) that the Administration must assume to compensate the previous concessionaires for expropriating the toll roads. The Executive has not yet specified the amount that according to its calculations would pay, although Treasury estimated months ago that it would fall of 2,500 million euros compared to the more than 4,000 million demanded by companies.

The Government wants to implant the 'Austrian backpack' from 2020

The Government wants to implant the 'Austrian backpack' from 2020

The Agenda for Change includes a battery of 60 measures to be applied in two years, such as repealing the "most damaging" aspects of the labor reform or promoting the discontinuous fixed contract.

  The government has presented Friday a document with 60 social, economic and environmental measures to achieve an "inclusive and sustainable" model in the medium term. The so-called 'Agenda for Change' includes points as varied as the gradual implementation of the 'Austrian backpack', the creation of depopulation offices in rural districts or a compensation fund for environmental damage.

  With this plan they intend to begin to close some of the wounds that were opened in the wake of the economic crisis. The Minister of Economy, Nadia Calviño, stressed above all to end structural unemployment and the rise in wages so that the country continues to grow. He did not want to give concrete figures of investment of this battery of measures and referred only to the more than 350,000 million that had already commented the Minister of Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera, as an "approximate" data but that can not be calculated yet.

"Many are already contemplated in the draft Budgets and others will be in the accounts of future years," said the minister, who rejected the idea that this "road map" can be interpreted as an electoral program due to the difficulty of drawing forward the PGE and the possible call for elections.

one
job
Austrian backpack
After many comings and goings, the Government of Sanchez recovers the idea put forward by the former Employment Minister, Fátima Báñez, to create in 2020 an individual capitalization fund following the model that Austria approved in 2003. This fund is nourished by the contributions of the employers of a part of the gross salary of each worker, so that if his dismissal arrives he does not receive compensation but takes the money from that "backpack" with him.

These accumulated amounts could also be made effective "in cases of geographical mobility , for the development of training activities or at the time of retirement" as a complement to their pension, the text says. The proposal will be addressed in the framework of "social dialogue" so that its approval has the greatest consensus, they explain.

two
job
Fixed discontinuous contract
Another of the most important labor measures included in the program is to reduce the duality, cope with the rotation and the multiplication of contracts for the same job, by transferring the cost of the adjustment to the unemployment benefit system between this year and the one comes. The objective is to maintain flexibility by reducing the weight of labor contracting by reinforcing its control, "especially in relation to the irregular distribution of contracted work time," the document says.

3
job
Repeal labor reform
The first point in terms of employment contemplated in the plan is "repealing the most harmful aspects" of the 2012 labor reform, as the Minister of Economy and Labor had already commented on several occasions. For this, they propose to work with social agents and parliamentary forces to reach consensus. It is expected to take place between this year and next.

4
Inequality
Depopulation offices
Beyond the purely economic measures, one of the actions to reduce the inequality proposed by the Agenda for Change is the creation of depopulation offices in at least 20 rural districts that require urgent intervention. Its function is to accompany people or companies that want to settle in the area giving them all the contacts. It is a plan already planned in the PGE accounts for 2019.

5
Ecological transition
Environmental fund
In the chapter on measures for green transition, the agenda talks about the creation of a fund to compensate for environmental damage that will be built up from the surcharges in insurance policies required to "the operators who carry out certain economic activities susceptible to cause damage to the environment ». The fund, which is already approved, will cover the damages for a time additional to the ordinary coverage with a limit of 30 years.

6
Ecological transition
Autonomous car
They also include a sustainable mobility plan to promote the adoption of alternative vehicles and promote the installation of recharging points. In addition, the roadmap includes a pilot autonomous car program between this year and next. It will also carry out a review of the toll model of the high capacity road network to "guarantee sustainability and efficient use".

The price of oil and bankruptcies, the other threats to airlines

The price of oil and bankruptcies, the other threats to airlines

Although there are more companies that close, Europe accumulates half of the insolvencies in the sector and is at special risk to the 'low cost'

In case the effects of the 'brexit' were not enough - to the shareholder problem of IAG, joins the need of Ryanair and Easyjet to achieve that more than 50% of its social capital is really European, and even Air France will have to clarify its structure with the American Delta Airlines (9%) as second partner-, the air transport sector can experience a 2019 moved by a new increase in the price of oil , which in turn would worsen the risk of bankruptcies .

And is that the business of the airlines , numbers in hand, is now more dynamic than it may seem. In 2017 -of last year there is no official data yet, although it is presumed a similar evolution- three times as many companies started their business, of which they finished it, 81 against 26. Thus, a new one was opened only every five days, but another one was closed on average every two weeks.

And it is not only about small companies, since almost six out of ten (58%) of the openings corresponded to regular airlines , while more than a quarter (27%) were charter flight companies, which he sympathizes with the growth of business travel .

On the side of the streams, Alitalia was the most significant case and it has been under bankruptcy for two years because it did not reach a pact with its creditors. The Italian populist executive does not want to sell its flag airline to foreign companies, especially if they are from outside the EU. But there are still no formal offers -Air France-KLM and Lufthansa have only shown interest- for a company that does not generate profits since 2002.

Norwegian, threatened
However, the biggest economic problems in recent years have focused on the 'low cost' segment , where the weakest operators have paid the fierce price war. First Air, Cobalt, Small Planet and Air Azur were some of its victims in 2018. Unknown to most is not, however, Norwegian , intended by IAG for a long time.

The resignation of the latter at the end of January to launch a takeover bid to control the Norwegian airline, a competitor of the British operators that reign in the low cost segment, has overshadowed its financial future. In 2018 it multiplied by five its losses to 150 million euros, despite the fact that it increased its turnover by 30%, a trend of this subsector: _gana customers but gets too much debt with new planes and fuel .

In Spain, it will close three of its eight bases to save costs and face a strike. It will also review its appliances to improve efficiency, as the price of oil has started the year up and there is a lot of volatility in its price. And that, in a Europe that concentrates half of the insolvencies of airlines -also 40% of the openings-, is something worrisome.