Facial recognition technology caught an impostor trying to illegally enter the U.S. on a fake passport that may have passed at face value with humans. The biometric technology had been used for just three days at Washington Dulles International Airport before the groundbreaking arrest. The 26-year-old man arrived on a flight from Sao Paulo, Brazil, and presented a French passport at customs. Using the new facial comparison biometric system, a customs officer determined the unidentified traveler did not match the passport he presented; an ID card from the Republic of Congo was found hidden in the man’s shoe. The fledgling tech is being tested at 14 U.S. airports; the Transportation Security Administration has said it may eventually replace boarding passes. [Tom Costello and Ethan Sacks / NBC]
Recode Daily: New facial recognition tech nabbed its first imposter trying to enter the U.S.
Plus, Ann Mather is the first woman on Airbnb’s board; NSA leaker Reality Winner gets five years in prison; how — and why — Silicon Valley is getting high; the date has been set for PSL 2018.
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Posting brand-sponsored content on Instagram is the new summer job. Instagram is the one space where young people have a competitive advantage on older workers. According to teens, all you need to do to is make at least one of your Instagram accounts public, amass a thousand or so followers and reach out to brands you like on Instagram. Depending on the teen’s audience and experience, most shops typically pay $5 to $20 for a single post, which has added up to thousands of dollars for some. [Taylor Lorenz / The Atlantic]
Enquiring minds want to know: Trump’s most powerful media ally next to Fox News has flipped on him. After being promised immunity by federal prosecutors, David Pecker, chairman of The National Enquirer, and Dylan Howard, American Media Inc.’s chief content officer, have corroborated Michael Cohen’s account implicating the president in a federal crime. Trump doesn’t like flippers — he said turning state’s evidence “almost should be illegal.” Here’s a look at how the president’s mindset resembles some legendary Mafia figures. [Jim Rutenberg and Rebecca R. Ruiz / The New York Times]
Airbnb added a woman to its board for the first time, as CEO Brian Chesky promised onstage at the Code Conference in May. Ann Mather has joined the board as an independent director; she has served on the boards of Alphabet and Netflix, and has a strong financial background as the CFO of Pixar from 1999 to 2004. The pressure for tech startups to add a more diverse slate of directors has been increasing in recent years, especially as they prepare to go public. [Kara Swisher / Recode]
Amid Facebook’s biggest branding and reputational crisis, it has hired veteran chief marketing officer Antonio Lucio to boost its external image and cross-promote features inside its apps. Lucio has been HP’s CMO for three years; he has also worked for Pepsi and Visa. Lucio’s Hispanic background and his efforts to champion inclusion will bring needed diversity to Facebook’s management, whose CEO, COO, CFO, CTO and CFO are white. [Josh Constine / TechCrunch]
Reality Winner was sentenced to more than five years in federal prison. The former National Security Agency contractor pleaded guilty in June to leaking a top-secret government report on Russian hacking to the online news outlet The Intercept. Winner, 26, is the first person to be sentenced under the Espionage Act since President Trump took office; her sentence is the longest ever imposed in federal court for an unauthorized release of government information to the media. [Dave Philipps / The New York Times]
As people speculate on what Elon Musk is on and techies are packing for Burning Man, Kara Swisher is curious about how — and why — Silicon Valley is getting high. [Kara Swisher / The New York Times]
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