Meta, AI Safety, and a Secret Society: This Week in Security and Privacy

Meta is testing face-recognition software built by the United States military and regional police department supplier Rank One, WIRED found in an investigation this week. Meta has been exploring the possibility of adding face recognition tech into its smart glasses, and WIRED previously reported that the app for the glasses contained code—now deleted—that would have enabled the company to activate face-recognition features on the devices.

Anthropic is still negotiating with the Trump administration, after apparent White House concerns about the safety of new public model Claude Fable 5 resulted in Anthropic pulling the product off the market entirely. But security experts point out that AI models with advanced capabilities for discovering and exploiting software vulnerabilities—in other words, creating potentially dangerous hacking tools—will be ubiquitous soon around the world.

A leak exposed the identity of members of Peter Thiel’s secretive ‘Dialog’ society this week, revealing more than 200 prominent names registered for a retreat that includes panels on building a cult, sex, and prepping for World War III. WIRED also revealed the society has a secretive way of ranking its members.

The United Kingdom will soon begin scanning the faces of asylum-seekers as part of age checks in spite of evidence that such age evaluation and verification tools are deeply flawed and can make mistakes with life-altering consequences.

In more uplifting uses of surveillance tech, Knicks fans around the world had a chance to watch Thursday’s ticker tape parade in New York City on traffic surveillance cameras thanks to livestreams from the artist Morry Kolman.

And there’s more. Each week, we round up the security and privacy news we didn’t cover in depth ourselves. Click the headlines to read the full stories. And stay safe out there.

Hackers Allegedly Publish Stolen Madison Square Garden Data

The hacking and extortion group ShinyHunters has been loudly proclaiming a slew of high-profile victims in recent months: including the education tech firm Instructure, causing disruption in thousands of schools in the process; the photography firm Kodak; and a key European human rights organization. This week, it also published data allegedly stolen from Madison Square Garden, according to reporting by 404 Media.

The published data, allegedly comprising millions of records across 45GB of files, includes potential personal information from customers and references players and coaches from the Knicks. The data was published not long after the Knicks won their first NBA championship since 1973. A sample of the data reviewed by 404 Media included one file purporting to include the names of “talent,” including Knicks members.

WIRED has recently reported on Madison Square Garden’s extensive use of surveillance technologies, including face recognition systems. Alleged emails in the stolen data viewed by 404 Media include one man complaining about face recognition technology. MSG did not respond to the publication’s request for comment and after the story broke, a federal class action lawsuit was filed over the alleged data breach.

San Francisco Gay Bars Are Scanning People’s Faces on Entry

At least three bars in San Francisco's Castro district, the well-known LGBTQ region of the city, have been using face scanners at their entrances to collect detailed information on customers. The bars are using tech from Patronscan, an ID verification company, to collect facial images, names, genders, according to Gazetteer SF, which went to bars using the technology. As well as the data collection, if staff at the bars spot customers fighting, being involved in theft, or other negative behaviors, they can log this in the system. Face recognition can then identify the person the next time they are at the bar. The recorded information can be shared as part of a “safety network” between other firms using the tech, creating a widespread surveillance network.

France’s Domestic Spy Agency to Drop Palantir Tech For French Alternative

For months, governments and companies in Europe have been ditching US technology, citing surveillance and security risks. This week France’s domestic spy agency, the Direction générale de la Sécurité intérieure (DGSI), announced it would stop using Palantir’s data and AI tools in the coming years, replacing them with software from French firm ChapsVision. “We must use our own AI models,” French prime minister Sébastien Lecornu said. “We cannot rely on tools developed by foreign powers. France must have its own tools.”

While France has been particularly proactive in trying to remove US technology from its public institutions—going as far as building its own open source equivalents to Zoom and Microsoft Office—it is not the first European intelligence agency to snub Palantir for ChapsVision. Last month, Germany’s intelligence agency BfV said it would use the French technology instead.

Apple Plans To Tweak Private Email Tool—Making Its Use More Obvious