Facial Recognition: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

John Oliver takes a look at facial recognition technology, how it’s used by private companies and law enforcement, and why it can be dangerous.
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[@PerverseMilk]

"it's like Skynet only not evil" is the exact kind of thing evil Skynet would say.

[@puffy_vegas7610]

LOL

[@user-wv1in4pz2w]

do you know what a stable time loop is?

[@TheRhetoricGamer]

Was it lost on them that SkyNet was *also* "good" until it decided to murder all of humanity?

[@matthewheywood8532]

cyrad exactly

[@googurll09]

I literally watched Terminator 2 for the first time yesterday, so this comment is much appreciated

[@lyotoarellano]

Alright you guys, I'll see you all back here in 5 to 6 years when this has become a HUGE problem and we say, "Wow, 5 years since John Oliver touched this topic and still nothing has been done."

[@lll9107]

Yeah, I am still waiting for you to fix the WWE problem.

[@Yugioh_Turk]

As is tradition

[@samanthalochs]

nice.

[@jessicajohnson8290]

This is us rn on his old shit 😂😂😂

[@billyfraiser6298]

I didn't understand something in the video. Isn't it a good thing that we're able to arrest people with warrants out for their arrest? John Oliver is making it sound like a bad thing.

[@grege5074]

there's a big difference between a "brown university student" and a "Brown University student"

[@Ash-zm1vx]

Oh no you didn’t!

[@technicallythecenteroftheu1349]

well. she was both

[@toosunakabooma1213]

Triple snap thumbs way the hell up!

[@ashishsachdeva4377]

Brown University Student has longer life expectancy than the other one...

[@ashishsachdeva4377]

U r doomed if u r a brown Brown University student...

[@jamesburk8145]

When that reporters high school photo came up you could see him looking for a word other than "horrifying" all over his face.

[@googiegress7459]

He didn't want to be unprofessional and ruin the rest of the interview. That's the face of someone who has just been personally attacked and is mentally cataloguing the weapons he has available to fight back with.

[@ianbot9389]

You know a service is scary if Facebook is the good guy in the story.

[@fatihsaidduran]

Damn

[@youtubersruleyoutube2348]

😌

[@baileygregg6567]

Your easily bought off I see😒

[@satyakamshashwat]

Only until FB gets its cut or make it its partner...

[@mounikakulkarni119]

😓

[@TRquiet]

“It’s not good at identifying black or Asian people.” Me: I don’t know if that’s good or bad... “This student was misidentified as a terrorist.” Me: Oh. It’s bad.

[@youtubeuniversity3638]

Yeah, if it meant BLM protesters were immune, then we could at least laugh at how one of the bad uses was failing, but, unfortunately, that'a not what bad at identifying black of asian people had meant...

[@Leo-xz7tv]

@@youtubeuniversity3638 well protesters can just wear masks

[@MP197742]

My actual train of thought as that was revealed: “That sounds like a good thing, unless it’s a really bad thing.”

[@tuffy135ify]

@De Acre kill cops?

[@Leo-xz7tv]

@De Acre don't know, maybe keep them from "losing" their bodycams and hiding their nametag and number. Oh and also hold them accountable for their shit. Would be a good start imo

[@mishaa7263]

Those poor orcs can't even enjoy a bottle of wine without the eye of Sauron constantly judging them

[@vikiai4241]

Wine? That's MAN-BLOOD!

[@jaymevosburgh3660]

Those poor orcs. Always blame the elves, not Sauron. Never Him ;)

[@Eagle-pg7bx]

They just wanted meat back on the menu

[@TroyBlackford]

As long as you don't mispronounce "Sauron" like John did.

[@olivialim7541]

Looks like privacy invasion is back on the menu, boys!

[@michelekett8450]

“white guy, no problem”, which is the unofficial motto of history. John you’re a gem.

[@tomcat8662]

Except in this case, this is a serious problem for white guys.

[@adrianbunea2006]

Very stupid statement of him, but that's the left for you.

[@stephenbeaumont679]

@@tomcat8662 I think you're misunderstanding it. It is significantly better at identifying white men than any other group of people, therefore it will pull less false negatives (misidentifying an innocent person for a criminal). So as a white man you would be significantly less likely to be misidentified and charged for a crime you didn't commit. Black women are on the opposite end, being the most likely to be charged with a crime they didn't commit because the software is awful at identifying them.

[@dontspikemydrink9382]

@@tomcat8662 for once

[@dontspikemydrink9382]

@@adrianbunea2006 ok boomer

[@taruncherian51]

I bet John's just scared that Adam Driver's home security is going to be able to identify him while he's hiding in his bushes at night

[@raspberrysparkletini]

Thank you for making me laugh 😁

[@owenconway3556]

Now this is a comment

[@Elnis888]

HAHAHA - good stuff!

[@MB57]

Let's be real, this has already happened.

[@DarkHarlequin]

Likely what prompted this episode ;)

[@DirtCheapFU]

The fact that Google removed their facial search engine from public access kinda said something. I remember using it back then, it just creeped me out having that kind of... power.

[@wolverine3219]

That was a thing? Jesus.

[@whosplayingyou29]

Pro tip for anyone interested: cover one eye most facial recognition algos can't identify a face unless both eyes are visible and will otherwise dismiss the image as not a face the best solution is to use a sticker, preferably cartoonish as the line art will confuse the algorithm

[@funkuro]

so people who lost an eye will have more of a chance of being misidentified?

[@whosplayingyou29]

@@funkuro Not necessarily, the bone structure around the eye is key data by cover one eye I mean you should also cover the brow and a bit below the eye. an easy way to tell whether you're Identifiable by common facial recognition programs or not can be done with snapchat bring it up, and add any gooofy filter that alters your face. If your cover up is successful, the filter won't work

[@googiegress7459]

Maybe a big old eyepatch situation. People are less likely to hassle someone if they look disabled, than if you were just wearing a mask. Although, if this is the case, wouldn't FR systems be unable to match someone's face from the side?

[@olotocolo]

or paint another set of eyes misaligned with real ones, that should reaaally mess up with algorithm

[@xg3990]

@@whosplayingyou29 are you in vfx?

[@raikenleo1902]

its funny how george orwell's book is being used as a manual rather than a warning

[@michaeljames5936]

Please remember Huxley's book too. The only reason these guys have images to scrape, is because humanity found a cheap way to take photographs and immediately we thought that, taking and displaying photos of our own faces, was the most important thing in the world. While Big Brother was getting better at watching us, we were too busy watching 'Big Brother' (and Love Island and The Real World(?), X-Factor...)

[@TT-jy2db]

Yes but who is responsible?

[@zongzoogly4549]

Did you even read 1984?

[@JNArnold]

They're not using it as a manual, they would be doing this now regardless. Orwell saw that this could happen. The fact that we have people getting pissed about it and see the future and current ramifications for letting it happen means the warning is working as intended. Now its just up to us as people to decide if we have the willpower to stop it.

[@Seilfemit]

Hey, Same image!

[@carlomarx7412]

"It's like Skynet but not evil." Well, even in the movie the people who built Skynet thought it wasn't evil...

[@danielramsey6141]

Funny how this is both Frightening Ironic, and arrogantly stupid. I guess it's true, human beings are going to fucking destroy themselves.

[@MrFlatage]

@@drunkensailor3736 They might? Yea meanwhile the US is using teargas, beatings and rubber bullets? That is no thought is it? That is in fact just scary. You missed the corpses being forklifted into trucks in the US?

[@BullShitThat]

It's as if they didn't even watch the movie at all XD

[@BlueDrakk]

@@drunkensailor3736 I heard that China is already using this facial recognition technology for their Social Credit System. They might start using it to quell the protests in Hong Kong. Scary thought. Actually came across a great analysis of the situation in Hong Kong and the future of those protests: kzbin.info/www/bejne/q37QZ2qCfd2Fba8

[@emmafrost3115]

It wasn't even "evil". It just extrapolated game theory and applied military strategy to the most likely outcome, then found a shorter way to the most optimal outcome. Basically it thought "these monkeys are all going to kill each other no matter what I do, so I should get it over with now so that at least I can survive." Who knows, maybe it had a rehabilitation of humanity planned, something similar to "Mother". Anyway, holy shit did that guy miss the whole point.

[@steelistheunworthy6534]

I like how hes adapted to not having a live audience by removing the awkward pause between jokes

[@danchidex221]

As a home nurse I realized most patients with fall risk rather risk falling than have someone sitting at their bedside watching them sleep, sometimes the insist on setting up a camera and having you watch from the next room. no amount of security worth your freedom, that's why we move out of our parents home.

[@FUtz-ux9ts]

Someone watching you sleep is just plain creepy tho. Regardless of the intention.

[@Montesama314]

The Clearview guy is just giving off WAVES of bad vibes.

[@acrefray]

You'd think he could be sued over it...

[@RaulDukeKnife]

My read on that cat is not bad vibes. Its an internet bro in his 20s that thinks he is doing a good thing and proud of himself, perhaps a bit too proud. Just as SkyNet was supposed to eliminate a worm from cyberspace in T3. He legit thinks he is doing a good thing and helping with the most heinous crimes. He also seems easily corruptible, but not corrupt yet. He isnt just going to up and admit his brainchild company is not what most folks want and stop scraping.

[@ffeff8353]

@@RaulDukeKnife -- he looks AND sounds evil. Which granted, could easily be wrong. But what he's doing is clearly evil, so there you go.

[@UVjoint]

His permanent smirk reminds me of Shkreli. It almost says, "There's nothing embarrassing about me anywhere on the internet, but I know what you did during THAT spring break."

[@nendoakuma7451]

Was he the inspiration for the portrayal of Lex Luthor in the recent DC movies?

[@chamamemestre]

No one listened to Snowden, not even when John interviewed him. Sadly, but unsurprisingly, no one will move a finger this time either.

[@hochminus-iy7ro]

If you give up, you've already lost.

[@juliansanchezharris5773]

People likes being bystanders 🤷🏾‍♂️

[@robertbogan225]

The bleats of sheep is always ignored.

[@briandavis7999]

Probably need a world wide resistance to crash the world wide computer systems.

[@bebopobama4686]

A huge part of the problem is that a lot of people don't recognize the consequences. They're either uninformed or stupid. People only react to things that have immediate consequences. It's like the boiled frog experiment.

[@bettehuang5292]

Lmao throwback to when Winger asked Duncan, "How is it you and James Bond come from the same island?"

[@sparkles52100]

For some reason turning on John Oliver when I wake up in the middle the night always helps me sleep. His voice is so soothing ❤️

[@SaraWolffs]

It's a good thing his voice is because the subjects he brings to our attention definitely aren't. Through no fault of his, of course, it's the world that's distressing, but it's still nice that he at least offsets it a bit with his manner.

[@MonadRimsire]

Me: man this year sucks, how much worse can it get? *Skynet is literally a thing now*

[@Pomagranite167]

skynet been a thing tho for a few years now

[@priscihc123]

@@Pomagranite167 I love your username!

[@mattscott8512]

Google: Gorgon stare

[@KevinP32270]

HAAAA

[@monstamos13]

@HeyNowLookHere 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@siavoushavesta5324]

1950s : we're gonna have flying cars 2020 : Ai is racist

[@nydydn]

some things never change...

[@MisterReginald141]

Bruh 😂😂😂

[@Ru4444]

Haha! 😂 Deja Poo... haha!! Great stuff!!

[@johnotero6761]

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@JonathanvG-wj1ro]

People that build AI are racist, AI is not

[@caffeinedelusions]

To be honest, the difference between Baroque and Rococo architecture is chiefly the fact that while Baroque designs have intricate and detailed decorative molding incorporated into interior design, Rococo amplifies that by heaping the molding further and further until it looks like mounds of frosting. Rococo is everything good about Baroque, but EXTRA.

[@sjs9698]

thanks, i was wondering. so now i know: rococo is like baroque but even more overdone ^^ also i think i now have a least favorite architectural style! yay!

[@merlyn2121]

Facebook message a girl. "Hello. You don't know me. I'm watching you right now. I like your pretty dress." Works everytime.

[@lazyhomebody1356]

Every girl I know would roll her eyes. Stalkers are cowards

[@sjs9698]

@@lazyhomebody1356 i suspect you missed the sarcasm.

[@lazyhomebody1356]

@@sjs9698 Eh, he thought his joke was funny. I know it was a joke, but it isn't funny

[@Nazareadain]

"It's like Skynet but not evil." - Skynet

[@Nazareadain]

Yeah, I'm convinced.

[@Aaronlune]

Oh no the tech company named its product after a bad thing from science fiction, I type sarcastically in-between drinks of soylent.

[@stefangrobbink7760]

Original skynet claimed the same thing.

[@stefangrobbink7760]

Original skynet claimed the same thing.

[@Thelostcause321]

😂😂😂

[@omasimbo5894]

"Arguing that you don't care about the right to privacy because you have nothing to hide is no different than saying you don't care about free speech because you have nothing to say." - Edward Snowden

[@eleson00]

Yet most police officers have the phone numbers and addresses hidden from any public directory.

[@realitycheck5902]

oma simba, Those who fail to protect to protect their "rights", will have no "rights" to protect.

[@Andrewza1]

I mean every country has freedom of speach. Not every country has that freedom afterwards.

[@pauloandrade925]

@@eleson00 yeah well its to avoid repercussions and similar.

[@mennoltvanalten7260]

Also note the implied 'right now' after both hide and say. Sure, a lot 2nd amendmentists don't care about the 1st amendment right now since they are against the protests, but those people would suddenly start caring if the 2nd was violated!

[@cephalonsadistic9331]

I feel like if facial recognition is made more common it could also be used by employers to identify and further discriminate against those with criminal records.

[@TheDilligan]

"This Brown University Student" I had another window blocking the name of the university and I was like "Did he just call her brown?"

[@dylanchouinard6141]

It’s important to remember who this technology isn’t being used on. None of these cameras are in corporate boardrooms, police precincts, Klan rallies, or offices of government

[@codymurphy3493]

at first I thought you said Karen Rallies and I LOLed

[@dylanchouinard6141]

Cody and William Murphy a distinctly different thing, my dude!

[@Zeel_BTS]

i wanted to retweet this

[@johnlewis8934]

Narvin Meherun just post it on Twitter and give him credit lol

[@johnlewis8934]

Cody and William Murphy sounds like a middle aged white woman’s baby shower lol 😂

[@andreawallenberger2668]

Ed Snowden is just sitting there in the dark, in his room in Moscow, going: "yep. smh. Told you so."

[@thabbyr]

My first thought!

[@moinkallo689]

More likely thinking. You idiots dont Care for Even that!

[@Microphunktv-jb3kj]

yeah because noone else ever knew AI existed right ... not everyone is empty in the head, like you... normal people just mind their own business and don't whine and have a tantrum like children over things they have no control over ...

[@moinkallo689]

Microphunktv You must be one of Those who lets the goverment do and decide everything about their life. I would have started using that brain god gave you without being so angry at others Just because they have an free Will to think for them self. And yeah its okey to have different thoughts. And the issue is not that none know. But nobody Cares, because of the fact Wich you talk about. All go around and think they have to Just live your life and all is Good. Just keep puting your head under the sand

[@JachAnen]

@@Microphunktv-jb3kj AI doesn't exist. Modules required for eventually creating an actual AI do exist or in the works, but AI right now is not actual AI, it's just a word used to sell it as the guys with the money won't check that deep, neither will normal users, as many think Alexa or Siri are AI's

[@Dark3y3]

It's not hard for me to imagine how creepy this would be for any lady, as I had something like this happen to me. I was at a convention, meet a couple of people who were running an anime booth. Before I had even walked 10 feet away from chatting with them briefly, one of them found and tried to friend me on Google Plus. Like who even used Google Plus, much less actually be able to find someone on there!

[@MrZomBie775]

Even though it feels like we're inching slowly towards a nightmarish dystopia everyday, its also pretty cool that we're basically living in a sci-fi movie from the 80s or 90s that's about the dangers of technology. I'm just waiting to hear about how an island park featuring clone dinosaurs just opened up.

[@googiegress7459]

The reality is much more prosaic. You're denied a home loan because of a dank meme you posted about the government or because of your skin color, and your children grow up under the same treatment, so your family remains in an underclass no matter how hard you work. Everyone like you slaves away indefinitely to the benefit of some ruling class that emerges. Lawful protest is met with vicious and insidious retribution. Maybe things change in a couple hundred years, maybe they don't.

[@phantomspaceman]

"Burn it all down." That's this year's theme.

[@dracawyn]

Tea.

[@aaronbono4688]

Yeah, just wait till next year

[@tfodthogtmfof7644]

But I don’t like fire. It is central to some of the most traumatic events in my life. There are other options and honestly the firemen in Fahrenheit 451 are seeming less and less fiction and more like prediction.

[@chuckhaugan4970]

I've been screaming that since Reagan! And, it seems, people are finally waking up.... But for how long? The rich own everything and will lull the masses back asleep. I predict, by mid August, all this will be a talking point, used by Republicans against everyone they do not agree. And, Trump will be reelected. Just watch! The stupidity of the voting masses is astounding. I'm so grateful my life is coming to an end. Openly proud fascists' roaming the streets of America, with a smirk on their faces, because they own the press. That happened in 1982, and we are living the result. America is over. It ended in 1982.

[@noahmeyer3013]

Pretty much

[@nnannakalu9423]

"1984" was meant to be nothing more than a dystopian cautionary tale, NOT the blueprint for a panoptical police-state.

[@TT-jy2db]

Yes but who is responsible?

[@martinskinner3894]

Or was it ?????

[@moinkallo689]

What if it was a warning to mankind...

[@nnannakalu9423]

@@moinkallo689 It WAS meant to be a warning-hence the "cautionary tale" inclusion in my post.

[@MG-iy1oh]

Are you sure about that? 😂

[@merlyn2121]

Never thought I would ever be wearing a mask into a bank. Pretty sweet.

[@user-em8fq2ev4b]

Naming it skynet is actually brilliant. It is a constant reminder of what can go wrong.

[@SystemZ3RO]

"Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should." -Dr. Ian Malcolm

[@pearlpeaceful3435]

YES!! THIS RIGHT FUCKIN HERE!!👆👆👆

[@trulyUnAssuming]

@@pearlpeaceful3435 that guy is not a scientist. He probably just took an off the shelf image classification algorithm and scraped enough data of the internet to train it. Arguably, not even the people that developed those algorithms were scientists, depending on the question whether or not maths/computer science is actually a science (Since you are not really observing an modelling natural phenomena there).

[@robkemp7291]

KEine Ahnung the person completed the job without asking the purpose of the task. Regardless how they got the source or algorithm, the tool is now completed. The context is how is the tool being used?

[@jasonalbert6251]

Somebresome Ian Malcolm was a shitty character. Jurassic Park was *not* a shitty movie.

[@yusufthegreat1232]

@Somebresome That is a mega-false statement.

[@Panda_Roll]

1984 has now been moved to the "I TOLD YOU SO!" section of every bookstore.

[@Megalomaniakaal]

15 years too late.

[@AbsentWithoutLeaving]

@@Megalomaniakaal - You skipped math classes, didn't you?

[@RobbieFitzgerald]

Along with the movie Idiocracy.

[@blipco5]

Kidlike101 - The sad part is the government didn't force it down our throats. We did more than willingly.

[@berryberrykixx]

Honestly, when I first read "1984", it was right after I returned home from a summer trip over the pond (in Europe), about 2 weeks after 9/11 happened. As I read it, inevitably I would read something that wouldn't fly in the past, but would now, and I'd say in my head, "Yep, I can see that happening here". I've read it and reread it over and over through the years, and those "Yeps" are definitely getting more frequent.

[@at_oussama]

i can’t trust a company that forces me to give out my photos without consent, especially when i live outside the unites states and that company doesn’t comply with GDPR laws.

[@97m4rk]

John I send you a hug

[@artemiswolf4508]

Maybe face masks as a regular fashion isn’t such a terrible idea

[@seanhembree6154]

They're terribly comfortable and I expect everyone will be wearing them in the future.

[@TheCamps10]

Facial recognition is easily tweaked to work with only the upper half of the face, I'm afraid. If anything, it might exacerbate the misidentification issue.

[@esarty1]

Last time read up about it, it was more about the length between the ridge of the nose to your eyes that where the most important thing to scan.

[@michelletormey673]

Sean Hembree nice princess bride reference!

[@sarahmcdermott6889]

Mask, sunglasses, and your favorite hat!

[@LodrikBadric]

The "funny" thing about facial recognition and collecting data is this: Quite a lot of terrorists who commited terrorist attacks in Germany between 2014 - 2017 were known by the police, they were already in their system but it did not help to prevent the attacks. So it's just mind-boggling to me, that there are people who think giving more data to the state will make our lives safer. To me it seems the police can't even handle the data they already have. It's not about collecting more data but to better analyse the data that is collected..

[@Bisquick]

Indeed, like most justifications involving "terrorism", it's really just an excuse for more authoritarianism.

[@AlbinovSK]

And in Slovakia, there was a huge scandal about some 'people of very very questionable character' bribing police officers to get access into police databases and collect data on their enemies such as journalists reporting on them.

[@sailaab]

i'm not entirely plugged in.. on how such 'basic' A.I. ..that too.. often 'flawed' A.I. can ever have a fair shot at 'preventing' mishaps or sinster things. i think.. for that we had better got 'ears to the ground' ... informer networks and better intercept tech. maybe even hack encryption based messenger services.. (whats ufffap) i know from experience or seeing how Bombay police changed. prior to the 1990s communal/religious riots and all the police literally had ample imformer networks and solving high-voltage cases was .. to a great extent.. dependent on human intel. things dwindles after the trust was broken.. or Muslims often saw the state as being partial.. if not the oppressor. informers too receeded to the background. (many from the lower strata of society or living on tge fringes.. or even being part of crime syndicates/ gangs). and obviouslt.. now crime is often decentralised. like.. in xase of terror attacks here.. often it takes a "sleeper cell" of juat 4-5 localised people who might otherwise have regular day jobs. skilled, highly educated people too can and do get systematicallylured or brain washed in the name of allegedly/real atrocities agsinst their sect/ group/ religion. it would be A FAAAAAR CALL to expect our current toddlee A.I. to do zilch in catching a whiff **before** a crime occured. i mean.. really. what if i am acting almost alone or in a limited way getting instructions over a securef communication and collecting arson or weapons or explisives wirhin closed premises. aka no public meetings or significant appearance out of the ordinary.. in front of surveilance cameras. i could be wrong but just my two paise

[@sockdolager3884]

I would think the problem for Germany (and England and the U.S.) is more that the federal police agencies are run by politically correct cucks who wont WANT to keep tabs on jihadists, because "racism!".

[@free22]

Chuck Fina You have no idea what happens in the US in the name of law and order, do you?

[@Tkokat]

"Harness the pain" is my new catchphrase

[@Gandalf98]

My next door neighbor works at the Material HQ on Wright Patt Air Force Base. He says that hyper surveillance is just fine if you're not doing anything wrong. Amazing point of view! What if someone with facial recognition software thinks I'm doing wrong if I vote for candidate B instead candidate A? or, if I criticize a certain political position? or, if I go to church or don't go to church? or, if I write this comment on KZbin?

[@therealjammit]

Cop: "We need this to catch terrorists" Same Cop: "I need to search for this guy who disagreed with me"

[@scaper8]

Hell, there have already been cases where cops have used police databases to track, harass, stalk, and, at least once that I know of, kill exes. You wanna lay money on the idea that they're not creaming their pants at the thought of shit like this?

[@WindFireAllThatKindOfThing]

Law enforcement will be foiled by their own tech: Bad mustaches. I got a pack of them for $3.99. And maybe add some googly eyes.

[@ZobethC]

Or....Same Cop: I need to find the BLM protester that gave me and my partner a dirty look to teach him a lesson 😬

[@roguishpaladin]

In the mind of that cop, "terrorist", "guy who disagreed with me", and "BLM protester" are the same thing because there are people whose worldview is limited to good guy/bad guy. We have projected the simplified morals from the cartoons and movies we consumed in our youth onto how policing happens in the modern world.

[@daniel140695]

@@roguishpaladin add the idea that antifa is now considered a terrorist organization, now they can do "any angry blm protester"->"antifa"->"terrorist"

[@cudi313]

This show is 10 times more serious without the audience

[@MopedOfJustice]

Strict improvement, a lot of his jokes were bad and forced

[@RadMan224]

Yeah his jokes were always the worst part of his show and the audience made it even worse

[@acezero5705]

@@RadMan224 they had the occasional quality joke. His televangelist rpisode ending was fantastic

[@ethanduffy9720]

The 'it's the same salmon' bit would definitely have got a good reaction in the studio.

[@PHAToregon]

Better for it

[@duykhanghehe]

Interesting fact about Hoan Ton-That is actually a descendant of the last Royal family of Vietnam

[@andro7862]

Are those the ones that were French puppets?

[@duykhanghehe]

@@andro7862 yeah generally so. Ton-That isn’t a surname, it’s a title given to more distant relatives of the monarch

[@MT-ii2du]

Wow, incredible! “Harness the pain” ! Thank you! Thank you !

[@veiyi]

John is now sooooooooo used to not holding for audience laughter, he is talking faster and faster😂

[@Mikefantasia22]

I've been noticing that each week he speeds up

[@BiffChunksteak]

@@Mikefantasia22 "I finally did it! I got rid of the audience! At last I can make the show I always wanted to, which is just me ranting away in the most eloquent, witty and well researched way I can think of!"

[@blakehenderson8828]

Get 1.15x more Oliver and for my money I'll take it

[@Jaqen-HGhar]

@@BiffChunksteak Nah John loved the audience and you could tell he was taken aback by not having one the first few weeks. He's a comedian at heart and comedians feed off of the feedback they get from the audience whether a joke has landed or not. I mean I'm sure he is enjoying not having to care whether the jokes land or not but I guarantee you he can't wait to get back to the set.

[@alexiscaligiuri5184]

Last week tonight but every time that John Oliver gets more stressed out it gets faster

[@nathanielthrush5581]

You know someone’s a bad guy if they make KZbin, Twitter, and Facebook look like the good guys...

[@mogur00]

haha... oh u mean youtube, the platform that you're currently using to stay informed, entertained, and on which you've typed that comment? yes, pure evil! :P

[@greywolf2809]

Your profile picture is a notoriously mean human you have no say in any of this

[@chasroth4258]

@@mogur00 do you drive a car that puts out emissions into the atmosphere? You're pretty evil smh.

[@mattwo7]

​Nathaniel Thrush, you mean sites collecting data that's a million times easier to misuse than just faces?

[@mattwo7]

@@mogur00 My left-anarchist roomate uses Tik Tok (which is infamous for working from the Chinese Government) and gets delivery from Amazon Prime(Amazon funds the ICE camps) because of the global outbreak making it unsafe to go outside. Don't pretend like it's a simple matter of people not using services that don't align with their political views. Personally I actively criticize KZbin on their Creator Insider channel because it's the closest we have to a proper communication line (even if said communication line is often prone to lying to us, as I've proved in a playlist of mine).

[@faithutz6661]

Why is John Oliver’s smile so endearing yet also so sarcastic at the end. Like I understand the sarcasm, but if I saw that smile with no context I would just feel happier

[@michaelpaz1656]

John we need you more then ever

[@MelaineT]

Black mirror really said “you gonna experience season 6.”

[@vituperation]

Charlie Brooker's not going to be able to write anything terrifying now. Compared to real life, the show's about to be a really dry documentary.

[@Frostyviewer]

Yeah I think black mirror just became a reality show this year

[@kmyrhow]

TOO real lol

[@kimslone5185]

Not to mention the fact that people look alike. What happens to the pick up line: You look just like my friend...

[@brianbrewer8683]

I love you John oliver!

[@Mkj8500]

Didn’t someone write a book about this? I wouldn’t know.... I was born in 1985.

[@2ezTimmy]

They made a movie. Babe in the big city

[@letsbehonest6322]

This gave me a good sad laugh. Thanks bud.

[@fantilldeath528trajectory]

1984 is the book but I here you this is Orwellian

[@billsabado9393]

Ha

[@nandoginkaku7610]

Yeah. The book is called brave new world

[@SkuLLetjaH]

"This show has always been anti-atrocity" That haircut says otherwise.

[@Matty002]

burn david

[@Kay_McKay]

The savagery is both off the charts and appropriate. Well done!

[@lilymarianna8776]

Shots fired.

[@Daenym]

I love when I scroll through the comments and see the comment I planned to write, only better. Well played.

[@igorschmidlapp6987]

I was racking my brain for comeback as soon as the words came out of his mouth, but I got nuthin'...

[@tomhooper5386]

On the police issue well done and the lady at the you and feel her frustration.

[@EmilyKresl]

As a child of the 80s and early 90s I will never ever trust any company named, "Skynet."

[@arthur_p_dent]

"'White guy, no problem' - which, yes, is the unofficial motto of history. " 😂

[@tim543990]

If only the white guys who served as cannon fodder for millennia and where bleeding out in trenches while crying for their mommies knew how privileged they were for being Male and white...

[@LisaBeergutHolst]

@@tim543990 R u triggered lol

[@Hector_Xavier_de_Lastic]

@@tim543990 Spoken like a true Kongo patriot, weeping for the plight of white men.

[@adamgajda7096]

@@tim543990 Yeah, it's funny how if you're given a choice of living in a white or non-white neighborhood, the choice is always the same. No matter your sex, race, education level or literally anything else. You just mustn't tell the truth why you made this choice because then Big Brother unleashes his Thought Police and you are screwed.

[@aSoberTooL]

Yikes, and people say leftists are easily-triggered snowflakes. It's just a joke, folks.

[@mitkitty]

The second that Russian guy suggested taking a pic of a random woman i started screaming in panic. Noooooooo!

[@Shifterwizard]

And it's not even that implausible that you could spend like 5 minutes and get their name, address, contact information, etc.

[@youknowwho9247]

@@Shifterwizard Only if they've decided to put that information on the internet.

[@mitkitty]

@@Shifterwizard considering how people can be dangerous and outright follow someone they decide theyre interested in is HORRIFYING. i once had a guy FOLLOW ME TO MY CAR to ask me out and i was absolutely terrified! Imagine if a creeper could essentially doxx someone to stalk them!

[@ped7g]

@@youknowwho9247 what do you mean? Basically everyone is on the internet... most of the people have now mobile phone, and their mobile operator usually has their full ID data (and they are signed for many other commercial services with their real ID)... not saying it's simple to get into that without warrant, but with unlucky combination of state+operator+black_hat_hacker it may be like only $50 away for ANYONE, especially if you are sitting within the 5-10m of them capable to scan through their devices or eavesdrop on the same WiFi network, etc... It's not like this is issue only if you have Facebook account. That just makes it easier and smoother, but don't feel protected by skipping social networks. You are probably raising the difficulty, but not that much.

[@georgebrantley776]

@@ped7g It doesn't even require a hacker or any sort of sophistication. A surprising amount of data is in the public record. Whitepages and other search engines can get me anyone's home address (or at least narrow down the possibilities to a small handful of addresses) with ease in just a few minutes. For free too.

[@ThePunisher014]

This one was brilliant!

[@FlyingHangman]

I'm so glad all these companies stopped their facial recognition tech.... btw, I love how easy it is to unlock my phone just by looking at it

[@J-Hue]

"It's Skynet but good?" But Skynet was supposed to be good too. It turned bad. That's like making a virtual reality machine that creates hyper realistic virtual world's based on your dreams, but the virtual tour guide is Freddie Kruger. And your tag line is, "It's like Nightmare on Elm Street. But good." Freddie Kruger shouldn't be anywhere near my fucking dreams.

[@nathanielgrey4091]

I read this in John's voice 😂

[@craigcorson3036]

Correct. He belongs in your nightmares.

[@Othmarius]

This analogy works extremely well, since the total power Freddie holds over his victims by controlling the dreamworld they are getting butchered in equals a world with such totalitarian surveillance technology. It's a terrifying and horrific nightmare with no place to hide.

[@tfodthogtmfof7644]

One of my favorite lines from the old version of despair.com “people tell you to dream but forget to mention that nightmares are dreams too.”

[@kandystorressantiago8865]

They think they can beat the odds

[@twistedtea13]

There’s just way too many things to worry about at this point

[@MADDMOODY516]

That's the point

[@Sam-lq7qi]

I think there always has been. The internet has just given us better access to information.

[@tylerhackner9731]

There’s always been shit to worry about, we’re just seeing it more. A blessing and a curse for growing up with social media.

[@jammedgun]

Yet so many of these worries and problems intersect in matters of elementary moral principles, basic human decency, freedom: values that we share. There's time yet to take action in solidarity with each other.

[@opopulista8134]

no there isn't we cannot sacrifice our freedom like that. our privacy, pleasee the left has to stop this!

[@PieterBreda]

Properly lighting really dark faces for portraits is also quite challenging.

[@Tabby-nw3bu]

I use to want the ability to teleport Now i want the ability to change my physiology

[@elathan4542]

How to be entertained and terrified at the same time: John Oliver.

[@juliunker]

weirdly enough, the same description also fits black mirror.

[@benderrodriguez7372]

Every year John warns us about something that will inevitably happen.

[@domingadoflaminga3961]

He's like a soothsayer from a Greek tragedy, at this rate.

[@MaxRamos8]

@@domingadoflaminga3961 *oracle

[@djentmas867]

He’s really John Conner, from an alternative timeline.

[@omeyehead7436]

@Neronian Diamanti yeah, no doubt the NSA is using in some form now

[@kevjinx8061]

Finally someone point it out! Trump,Bojo,Kavanaugh,Modi, except for one time,Marine Le Pen.

[@WubbyPunch]

I love you Johnathan Oliverithium

[@Ammon6]

That Chinese guy saying "we gonna do something good...." I had the chills down my spine

[@sophiewillson-quayle1683]

I appreciate that he’s learned to do this without an audience, because this is so much less awkward than the first few episodes in quarantine

[@Pomagranite167]

It wasnt awkward bc there was no audience, it was awkward bc they were all super serious and sad bc they were all corona themed.

[@starfire139]

@@Pomagranite167 No, the timing of jokes and pauses have been changed and this flows a lot faster than when there was a live audience.

[@aeonjoey]

right!? yeah it was weird for a bit but he's ridden the wave of silence and got a good beat on timing too

[@aeonjoey]

@@Pomagranite167 mm yeah ok i'll give you that, though having an audience is something a comedian get's used to and why most standups can't do a web thing, no feedback. look at bill maher's show (if you dare), he hasn't adapted as well. lol.

[@NightAtTheOpera3]

As much as I enjoy hearing the laughter at a particularly well-done joke, part of me hopes he stays without one whenever all this dies down. He's started to rely a lot less on annoying, "goes-on-too-long-repeat-the-same-word-over-and-over" gags just to get the audience hooting and it's fantastic.

[@keithdorn8412]

"I want to be a responsible one" proceed too ignore three cease and desist order. 10/10

[@decentlysmartforanidiot8284]

This man is the human equivalent of Rattus Rattus from Horrible Histories.

[@DTWTheWanderingMuzungu]

The irony now is everyone has to cover there face or receive a fine.

[@OhighOSkater]

John Oliver is the only talk show host that is making it work with no studio audience. He’s still as funny and informative as ever. Thank you John. You’re the bees knees

[@robertnett9793]

John Oliver has a completely different format from the other shows. It's a one-topic retrospective of things that happened a while back. Which allows for more research and a more complete look on the situation. This sets LWT apart from the daily shows - studio or not. And don't get me wrong, I really like the John Oliver show for this bit of more distance to the actual events. But for experiencing the actual situation the other shows, be it Trevor Noah, Stephen Colbert, Seth Meyers, Jimmy Kimmel and funny enough Bill Maher recently are also quite good.

[@ToyKeeper]

Trevor Noah has adapted well too. May also be worth mentioning Cody Johnston, but he's not actually a talk show host in the same sense. He has been doing youtube style single-topic news videos all along, kind of like John Oliver but more disheveled and snarky.

[@Rayxster]

We're SOOOOO close to living an actual Black Mirror episode.

[@markpfeffer7487]

Already there.

[@UlshaRS]

Been since the 90s

[@josephedwardsarena9487]

Too late We're already there.

[@alchemicpunk1509]

Obligatory we're in one since 2010 at least remark.

[@unicornsermons]

we've been IN IT for a MINUTE

[@neverendingjourneystilllea5271]

Thanks

[@scoutershangout]

Thats amazing that you used your old high school photo. Fantastic.

[@fifen1846]

Can we take a moment to appreciate how good John Oliver's Photoshop artists are

[@SantiagoRamirez-ut3nq]

That ‘Netflix’ show got me for a moment

[@tylerhackner9731]

The best photoshop I’ve seen so far

[@marcusogden3570]

Idk if you’ve ever actually used PS but this content is garbage... try commenting something intelligent 🧐

[@killmewhileimahead]

Yes! They have an excellent graphics department

[@MinamiX3]

Fox news Photoshop artist gotta step up their game 😂😂😂

[@benevolenttengu7241]

It would be a shame if a hundred million people all simultaneously sued ClearWater AI for violating the copyright of photographs,

[@dorienrose9982]

Technically the one who took the photo owns the copyright but only for media and advertising purposes. Once shared on social media it is consent to reshare and there is no provision in the law which states anything about using shared media to build databases. My wife has been a portrait photographer since 2015 and we had to get very familiar with the laws when we had a legal agreement drafted for our customers to sign after someone used a photo for a local ad... Which would have been okay if they had not cropped the photo to cut off the top of someone's head, which created bad branding for us. It is a case of, "there's nothing in the rulebook that says a golden retriever can't play basketball."

[@andremilanimartin3338]

@@dorienrose9982 Those laws are quite different depending on the countries

[@benevolenttengu7241]

@@dorienrose9982 Not the point the point is everyine suing at once, means they still have to sort through a million slap suits

[@benevolenttengu7241]

@@andremilanimartin3338 Those laws are all the same internationally among countries that signed WIPO

[@datalphalion]

Clearview*

[@pepepoopsonthefarright7531]

facial recognition - scans john's face facial recognition - ah yes, milhouse

[@markmikolay9019]

"Hormonal Stalingrad" I'm fucking dead LMFAO

[@uthmanbaksh3530]

I guess face coverings will now be normal even after the pandemic.

[@joshuabanner9920]

Meh, that can work.

[@ratataran]

@@joshuabanner9920 shoplifting had never been easier

[@Begeru]

Except nobody even wears them now while we're still in one.

[@stormtempterf8058]

Easier solution. Reflective makeup. Doesn't have to be like that one lady he showed. You can have skin tone paint that is laced with reflective bits. Just need enough to blind the cams, so maybe some eye liner.

[@ChesterRico]

Hell, I don't plan on ever stopping to cover my face in public again. It feels so much better.

[@kathybrown4903]

"Hi guys! Today's tutorial is on how to hide from cameras." Is this what being in a dystopia is like? I think we're in a dystopia.

[@shaukahodan2373]

Terrible Russian accent!

[@rabarbuto]

hi kathy, i agree, tho i wonder how many out there know the meaning of dystopia...?

[@DavidSmith-eh7rs]

@@shaukahodan2373 I thought it was passable, but then again I'm not Russian or Eastern European.

[@efedra667]

And you ARE RIGHT

[@TheNinthGenerarion]

Just wear a mask

[@jdole9038]

As of Jan. 11th, 2021...happy this exists?

[@doc7000]

When he said "yea that is the difference" the tone of how he said that tells me that he had a "are we the baddies" moment.

[@sjs9698]

idk, i got *really sad techie noises* from it, bc explainggn the actual difference was clearly not something he'd get a chance to do.

[@oliverizzard8751]

17:33 that lip twitch of pure anger and evil when he gets interrupted. This man is clearly a psychopath.

[@alysiamerdavid-wasser9165]

Wow. Can't unsee it!

[@The8BitPianist]

Psychopath is a little bit far fetched, but he's certainly suspect!

[@ravengrey6874]

Future Bond villain in the making

[@JR-ee4xf]

Wtf.... Psychopath

[@prunabluepepper]

@@The8BitPianist He is. All signs are there.

[@Allr3dc]

This brings up the age-old “I have nothing to hide” argument. People always use that as an argument to say they’re ok with this type of surveillance. I’m willing to bet, though, that if I randomly walked up to any of those people on the street - let’s say we’re both in line at the same deli - and asked them for their license plate number and home address, they’d be inclined to say no. Both of those things are “public information” but it’s still an invasion of privacy. People rely on security by obscurity and facial recognition technology completely destroys any type of privacy we have left.

[@prosperwithin9882]

As much as I try to love humanity, most people are idiots. Lol, it is simply the way it is. One day, they will all understand. It is a matter of personal development/intellectual advancement. I'm no Saint and I'm no genius, but at least I can take pride in my ability to be aware of my the environment and current state of things.

[@CaptainWumbo]

People who are okay with this are going to be in an extreme minority. Only people with a lot of power and can gain a lot will turn a blind eye, sadly ofc those are the people who get to decide.

[@Mr_Wallet]

An even better experiment would be to stay exactly 15-20 feet away from them and film them while they move around a public space. Not an invasion of privacy, but everyone recognizes there's something abusive about it. Trying to proactively identify _everyone_ walking around in public, with no reasonable suspicion that any specific one of those people has committed a specific crime, is problematic. "Privacy" isn't quite the right word, and we still lack much of the vocabulary we need to talk about it effectively. I think it's closer to, how our understanding of "presumption of innocence" needs to be adjusted to account for the information age.

[@potaterjim]

@@CaptainWumbo you're being naive. It's going to widely accepted, because people will use the excuse "it's to protect you from terrorists/murderers/pedophiles! Only criminals have anything to worry about!" And people will criticize anyone who speaks out about it. And even more terrifying, this technology will allow governments to target people _who criticize the system" People are idiots. They'll protest and complain about getting their hair cut in the middle of a pandemic, you think they'll see the bigger picture on this?

[@agneteht]

It's a stupid argument primarily because it assumes that laws will always be reasonable, respectful of privacy and that the rule of law in a democratic state will always be the status of your country. The US is and has many times been on the brink of being a totalitarian state. And the first many steps along that way are not sudden but a sliding scale. Therefore there may be a time when you find yourself in trouble though you had nothing to hide when it's too late for you to do anything about these invasive systems.

[@origamiandcats6873]

I'm thankful I have no photos online.

[@aggravati0n]

Blindingly brilliant wee decorative parrot. My favorite current English talking head emitting words of real significance. Acerbic. Empathetic. Hilarious. Unabashedly intellectual. John Stewart, you are AWESOME.

[@pervyturtle2673]

"skynet but good" sounds like a company slogan from a satirical tv show

[@alejandrozapata6286]

It doesn't kill all humans, just the ones from foreign countries.

[@goldengryphon]

My ISP is named Skynet. They have fantastic service and a good sense of humor.

[@jjsupah]

Skynet started out as a good thing in Terminator as well. It's not like it was designed to be evil. That guy could not have sounded more dumb

[@mattwo7]

@@goldengryphon Lots of [brand]s these days have PR people with good senses of humor. You should have seen when the Sonic Twitter tweeted the Bubsy twitter, even the Mega Man twitter got in on it.

[@opopulista8134]

jesus we can't sacrifice our privacy our freedom like that. please don't let technocracy take over the world,

[@maxi9460]

"Burn it all down" literally my reaction to that scenario. How did no one see how creepy and disturbing that whole thing is. Taking a picture of a random person then having access to their whole life?? WTAF??

[@hakunamatata887]

Snowden already told you how many years ago.

[@Medhead101]

This is the product of leftism and putting government authority on a pedestal. We need to start focusing on decentralisation.

[@dysco9858]

Hello I am a boomer. Having lived a lifetime with complete anonymity and the only comparable thing being photographs, I have no idea what the problem is. Also, I don’t own a computer and I’m in charge of making laws about stuff like this.

[@jemolk8945]

@@Medhead101 I think you mean liberalism. Not leftism. It's liberals that believe in the apparatus to ensure fairness and create progress. Leftists want to dismantle hierarchies, including the state, though some of us disagree about the means, and some think that seizing control of the state is a necessary step in the process of dismantling it and the coercive power of capital. --A random anarchist on the internet.

[@fenhen]

Medhead101 What? This has nothing to do with governments. A company made an app.

[@austinrenwick5177]

We should all start using Ton-That's portrait for our profile pics

[@AckTastic]

i was eating Lay"s White Cheddar flavoured chips while watching this and was "LITERALLY" licking my lips when Woody did the weird lick :o LOL

[@BackfallGenius]

Everyone: "Oh no, this is ba-" John Oliver: "But wait, it gets worse"

[@Prophes0r]

The sad thing is that it is actually much, MUCH worse. This episode barely scratches the surface of the problem. I'm actually surprised at the things they DIDN'T include. I'm not going to copy/paste the Wall of Text from my other post. But I will link to it. kzbin.info/www/bejne/oIvNnp-Aha-aq8k&lc=z23fcxhhnnbwc5uoh04t1aokgekrmuhpwi5b0fc1dijnbk0h00410 EDIT: KZbin doesn't let you link directly to a comment anymore. That link is for this video, but the comment at the very top will be the 'Highlighted Comment". EDIT AGAIN: You have to copy & paste it because KZbin will strip off the latter half of the link if you just click it...

[@epapa217]

Overwatch that link brings me back to the video you just commented on 🤔

[@Prophes0r]

@@epapa217 Yes but the comment should be at the very top of the comments as the "highlighted comment"

[@theradioman5182]

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE!

[@composerdoh]

That about sums up almost every episode of "Last Week Tonight" ever.

[@RobSchofield]

Chilling....

[@preshisify]

thank you ☕

[@naterichter588]

Person talking about the global apocalypse : "in hindsight, they named it skynet, we probably should have seen this coming"

[@mr.b6789]

Spot on!

[@shiningdawn8578]

Interesting how fictional movies/stories from our past, that depicted dystopian futures that have not happened, have seemed to provide the language/infrastructure for that very future to become manifest. We've got Skynet and... Soylent already.

[@unbroken1010]

@@shiningdawn8578 soylent? I'm sorry where do we have that

[@unbroken1010]

@@shiningdawn8578 on a side note we call it predicted programming and you call us crazy

[@JarrodBaniqued]

soylent.com It’s not people...for now

[@semaj_5022]

That Clearview guy is a sociopath. You can tell just looking at him that he feels no empathy or shame, and doesn't care at all what's "right."

[@Corbomite_Meatballs]

He cares about the size of his bank account, because that will insulate him from his own tech.

[@prestachuck2867]

Just like Zuckerberg.

[@Dee010s]

@@prestachuck2867 what came to my mind right away

[@PSspecialist]

All CEOs are sociopaths. That's how they get to become CEOs.

[@Lambda_Ovine]

He's a narcissist and egotist. He has convinced himself that he's the good guy and when in doubt, he just does not care, he wants to make money.

[@lazyperfectionist3978]

I'm suddenly reminded of what this one buddy who specialised in computer tech and black hat/white hat business said to me: "never put your face and name next to each other on the internet", and he's been saying this shit for _years_ before facial recognition got to the point where it is now