It gets worse :/

I looked up the brand (Invenda). Their PDF includes "using AI", "measuring foot traffic", and gathering "gender/age/etc" e.g. facial recognition to estimate a persons age and gender

And in terms of "stored locally" this is straight from their website

The machine comes with a “brain” – Invenda OS – and is connected to the Invenda Cloud, which allows you to manage it remotely and gather valuable environmental, consumer and transactional data. The device can be branded according to your requirements to further enhance your brand presence.

The marketing also so fricken backwards that it reads like satire:

For a consumer, there’s no greater comfort than shopping pressure-free. Invenda Wallet allows consumers to browse, select and pay for products leisurely and privately 🤦‍♂️

Why in the ever living hell would a vending machine need local-only facial recognition...

A massive and punitive fine for anyone gathering biometric data without express permssion would be a great way to discourage other companies from bringing that shit around. A billion or two ought to do it.

Yet another demonstration that the primary meaning of "smart" has come to be "unbelievably stupid."

Students believe there is a camera inside this hole on the vending machine

Students and their silly beliefs. Don't worry about that lens shining in the hole. It's just a useless hole!

Regardless of the privacy issues, if this is actually a default feature of this machine, why does the camera hole look like it was put there with a hammer?

who's hype for the state-industrial complex to track our every movement! surely this combined with a right wing political movement that is increasingly focused on punishing so-called enemies will never lead to a complete humanitarian disaster.

Hmm.... facial recognition vending machine huh....
Finally it's time for my jammer & some script from c/netsec to shine

new tech sux

RIP Brendan, best SCSM.

The pharmacist at my local Tesco once told me I was buying paramol too often. It had been at least a year since I last bought it.

This told me that:

A. They're using facial recognition to track purchases

B. There's either not enough info provided by it or enough training on it's use