From .
Does it suddenly seem like people are posting a lot of fine art on social media? Over the past few days, Google鈥檚 Arts and Culture app has exploded in popularity 鈥� even though it鈥檚 been around since 2016 鈥� thanks to its viral selfie feature. You take a picture of yourself and the app locates a work of art that鈥檚 similar. It鈥檚 currently at the top of both iOS and Android鈥檚 most-downloaded lists.
But if you鈥檙e trying to access the app in Texas, you might notice that the popular feature is curiously missing. Texas is one of in the U.S. 鈥� Illinois is the other 鈥� where people .
, a tech reporter for the Wall Street Journal, says the app uses a form of artificial intelligence called machine learning to find the matches.
鈥淭his sort of biometric analysis 鈥� which is the analysis of your face or your fingerprints or anything that is inherent to you 鈥� has been a concern of privacy advocates for a long time,鈥� he says.
Nicas says the Chinese government uses security cameras and facial recognition to track its citizens.
鈥淚n Russia, there鈥檚 an app where you can take a photo of a stranger out in public and it will tell you their social media profile,鈥� he says.
But not in Texas. Because of the state鈥檚 biometric privacy laws, Nicas says, the Google Arts and Culture selfie feature isn鈥檛 allowed.
鈥淎 few years ago, Texas passed a law that said companies needed to have user consent before they used or collected their biometric information, including their fingerprints or their 鈥榝ace geometry.鈥� And as a result,鈥� he says, 鈥淕oogle, being cautious here, has decided not to release this selfie tool [for] users in Texas.鈥�
Nicas says he spoke with a privacy law professor at Georgetown University who was surprised that Google鈥檚 blocking the feature in Texas, because the app does require consent and appears to comply with Texas law.
Written by Jen Rice.
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