Vending machines to be removed from UW campus over facial tech concerns

The University of Waterloo (UW) will be getting rid of more than two dozen vending machines after students raised concerns about facial recognition technology.

UW began looking into the issue after seeing students flag it on social media.

The university said it was unaware of the technology and has asked that it be disabled until the machines are removed.

It said the 29 machines had recently been installed across its campus.

In a statement, university spokesperson Rebecca Elming thanked students for bringing the issue to the school’s attention and said the university has asked that the machines be removed from campus “as soon as possible.”

Neither the company behind the machines, Invenda, nor their operator immediately responded to a request for comment.