Ford Motor Company and Domino's Pizza Inc. have reportedly announced tests for a self-driving car that delivers pizza. The car will carry orders in external compartments that can be accessed by entering the last four digits of the customer's phone number. A safety driver, a Ford engineer and a Domino's employee will accompany the car during the testing process. Additional information about the development of self-driving cars can be found in the Autonomous and Connected Vehicles Update, Shook's newsletter covering the legal and regulatory landscape of the autonomous vehicle industry.
Tag Archives technology
An apparent glitch in a Peppes Pizza advertisement in Oslo, Norway, reportedly revealed to passersby that the ad determined whether to show pizza or salad to its audience based on gender as perceived by facial-recognition software. The digital billboard used a hidden camera to scan faces of the audience and showed images of sausage pizza for men and salads for women. The glitch revealed that the software scanned for the gender of the viewer, the age segment, the length of time the viewer looked at the ad, and whether the viewer was wearing glasses or smiling. After the glitch gained attention as a purported breach of privacy in Norwegian media, the hidden camera was reportedly removed. See The Outline, May 12, 2017. Issue 635
Eatsa, a fast-food chain featuring high-tech ordering and automated service, faces a putative class action alleging its restaurants are inaccessible to the blind. Am. Council for the Blind, v. Keenwawa, Inc., No. 17-2096 (S.D.N.Y., filed March 23, 2017). Eatsa customers place orders through mobile apps or kiosks in the restaurants, then swipe a credit card to pay; the customer name then appears on a screen next to a wall of food-delivery “cubbies.” When an order is ready, an LCD screen lights up and displays the customer’s name, and the customer must tap a particular corner of the cubby to open it and retrieve the order. The complaint alleges that Eatsa failed to configure either its mobile app or kiosks to use audio technology, rendering the restaurant inaccessible to the blind or those with low vision. Although Eatsa staffs each restaurant with one or two human “hosts” to help customers, the…
Emerging technologies are changing the way we live, travel and buy goods and services. While new technology may improve our lives, it also brings new risks. Shook, Hardy & Bacon Partners Cary Silverman and Phil Goldberg, with Of Counsel Jonathan Wilson, have authored a report, Torts of the Future: Addressing the Liability and Regulatory Implications of Emerging Technologies, addressing the challenges of promoting innovation and economic growth while protecting consumer safety and privacy. The report, published for the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform, focuses on five main areas of new technology: autonomous vehicles; the commercial use of drones; private space exploration; the “sharing economy,” which allows people to generate income from underused assets such as cars and housing; and “The Internet of Things,” involving products connected to collect and share data. The authors examine current technological developments, provide an overview of existing regulatory and liability frameworks, consider current and…
The Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC’s) second public forum targeting the privacy and security implications of emerging technologies will cover topics that include (i) the Internet of Things and big data, (ii) mobile privacy, (iii) consumer privacy expectations, (iv) online behavioral advertising, and (v) information security. Slated for January 12, 2017, at the FTC’s Constitution Center in Washington, D.C., the event will also be available via live webcast. Details about the agenda and a pre-conference networking event are available at FTC's website. See FTC News Release, December 16, 2016. Issue 626
Two consumers have filed a putative class action against Panera LLC involving the restaurant chain’s “2.0” ordering system using touchscreen kiosks and a “fast lane” pick-up shelf, which they allege fails to accommodate the visually impaired. Gomez v. Panera LLC, No. 16-21421 (S.D. Fla., filed April 20, 2016). The plaintiffs argue that they each visited a Florida location of Panera and found themselves “unable to enjoy the same ordering and dining experience as sighted patrons” because they were “denied the ability to independently select and purchase lunch.” The kiosks “were not designed and programmed to interface with commercially available screen reader software and further were not equipped with auxiliary aids (such as an audio interface system) for disabled individuals who are visually impaired,” the complaint alleges. The plaintiffs further argue that Panera’s website is unusable to them because it does not integrate with their screen reader programs. They seek orders…
Iowa State University Assistant Professor Austin Stewart has developed a virtual reality world that he says could be used to convince caged chickens that they are in a free-range environment. Stewart’s project, Second Livestock, envisions round skyscrapers filled with chickens wearing virtual-reality headsets and standing on omnidirectional treadmills. If implemented early in a chicken’s life, a chicken would believe that it is outside, Stewart suggests, and raising chickens in confinement could become more humane. While Stewart admits that his plan would be far too expensive to implement right now, “I had to show that this technology is plausible,” he said. See Ames Tribune, May 10, 2014. Issue 524
California EPA’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA), responsible for implementing the state’s Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986, has launched an interactive database that provides information about the results of biomonitoring testing on various groups, including teachers, children and mothers of Salinas, and firefighters. The database allows searching by project or chemical monitored and provides detailed information about testing results. See OEHHA Biomonitoring CA Notice, May 5, 2014. Issue 523
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has issued a staff report outlining best practices for the use of facial-recognition technology in online social networks, mobile apps, digital signs, and other products and services. According to an October 22, 2012, FTC press release, facial recognition technology has “a number of potential uses, such as determining an individual’s age range and gender in order to deliver targeted advertising; assessing viewers’ emotions to see if they are engaged in a video game or a movie; or matching faces and identifying anonymous individuals in images.” But the agency has also expressed concern that these advances could contravene consumers’ expectations of privacy because they hold “the prospect of identifying anonymous individuals in public, and because the data collected may be susceptible to security breaches and hacking.” FTC is urging companies that use facial-recognition technology to (i) “design their services with consumer privacy in mind”; (ii) “develop reasonable…
