Don’t Forget the Bredemarket Mailing List

I just saw another of those urgent messages. The kind that say: “If you’re depending on social media channels owned by others, you’re a renter, not an owner. Create your own mailing list that you control!”

So this is a good time to remind you that Bredemarket has a mailing list.

No, not the WordPress service where you can receive my blog posts via email.

I’m talking about my MailChimp-managed mailing list with its own content.

In fact, I just sent a new mailing composed entirely on my phone.

Oh, you didn’t see it?

Subscribe so you don’t miss the next one.

https://bredemarket.us2.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=0793a6901095b5080a383ea76&id=f482cef49d

Subscribe to the Bredemarket Mailing List (April 6, 2024)Download

Two of the Living

When I saw an allegation that a posted condolence message to Hulk Hogan was AI-generated, I sort of agreed.

And then I wondered.

“Write a two sentence condolence message for Hulk Hogan who passed away today, then a two sentence condolence message for Chuck Mangione who also passed away today.”

And Google Gemini wondered also.

“It seems there might be a misunderstanding. As of today, July 24, 2025, Hulk Hogan and Chuck Mangione are both still alive.

“Therefore, I cannot write condolence messages for them.”

When Pre-Acquisition Announcements Stalled Negative Activities Affecting Motorola and IDEMIA

When a company announces its intent to buy another company, certain activities at both firms may be stalled.

This can be a good thing, as certain Motorola employees and IDEMIA lawyers know.

Motorola layoffs on hold

In late 2008 and early 2009 Motorola was in trouble—so much trouble that it would eventually bifurcate. (Heh.) So Motorola was laying off employees throughout the company…

…except in the Biometric Business Unit where I resided. Safran had announced its intent purchase that unit, and Motorola was obligated to deliver that unit to Safran intact.

So I kept my job…for another 12 years anyway.

IDEMIA lawsuit on hold

Anyway, Motorola’s Biometric Business Unit became part of Safran and then IDEMIA. And according to ID Tech, IDEMIA is the beneficiary of new acquisition activity.

“A legal dispute between South African Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) firm INFOVERGE and French multinational IDEMIA has stalled, with INFOVERGE citing ongoing acquisition activity involving IDEMIA’s South African subsidiary as the reason for the delay. The firm is seeking R39 million in damages over what it describes as a breach of contractual obligations by IDEMIA.

“INFOVERGE told reporters that it had been informed IDEMIA’s South African division is undergoing a corporate transaction, which has effectively paused the litigation process. ‘We’ve been told that the South African arm of IDEMIA is under acquisition … which leaves our legal matter in some kind of limbo as we wait,’ an INFOVERGE spokesperson said, adding that the prolonged delay is impacting their ability to fulfill their empowerment mandate.”

I’m not sure whether the completed IN Groupe acquisition is the culprit, or if the possible public security sale is to blame.

What Good Are Notebooks?

(Imagen 4)

Whenever I bought a car or a computer, I used to buy a small spiral bound notebook to log important things, such as repairs.

And I always failed to log the important things.

I took a new approach on Sunday when Bredemarket bought a new computer.

(It was time. For the last five years, Bredemarket has been operating on a Windows 10 computer with 4 GB RAM from 2017.)

As I started setting up the new computer, I started an ONLINE log stored on a cloud service. And accessible from the new computer and several other devices.

So even if the computer is inaccessible, I can log things from my phone or another computer.

Hopefully I’ll be more faithful in logging this time around.

As long as my cloud service doesn’t fail. Then I’m screwed.

It’s like, um, life during wartime or something.

I’m Bot a Doctor: Consumer-grade Generative AI Dispensation of Health Advice

In the United States, it is a criminal offense for a person to claim they are a health professional when they are not. But what about a non-person entity?

Often technology companies seek regulatory approval before claiming that their hardware or software can be used for medical purposes.

Users aren’t warned that generative AI is not a doctor

Consumer-grade generative AI responses are another matter. Maybe.

“AI companies have now mostly abandoned the once-standard practice of including medical disclaimers and warnings in response to health questions.”

A study led by Sonali Sharma analyzed historical responses to medical questions since 2022. The study included OpenAI, Anthropic, DeepSeek, Google, and xAI. It included both answers to user health questions and analysis of medical images. Note that there is a difference between medical-grade image analysis products used by professionals, and general-purpose image analysis performed by a consumer-facing tool.

Dharma’s conclusion? Generative AI’s “I’m not a doctor” warnings have declined since 2022.

But users ARE warned…sort of

But at least one company claims that users ARE warned.

“An OpenAI spokesperson…pointed to the terms of service. These say that outputs are not intended to diagnose health conditions and that users are ultimately responsible.”

The applicable clause in OpenAI’s TOS can be found in section 9, Medical Use.

“Our Services are not intended for use in the diagnosis or treatment of any health condition. You are responsible for complying with applicable laws for any use of our Services in a medical or healthcare context.”

4479

From OpenAI’s Service Terms.

But the claim “it’s in the TOS” sometimes isn’t sufficient. 

  • I just signed a TOS from a company, but was explicitly reminded that I was signing something that required binding arbitration in place of lawsuits.
  • Is it sufficient to restrict a “don’t rely on me for medical advice; you could die” warning to a document that we MAY only read once?

Proposed “The Bots Want to Kill You” contest

Of course, one way to keep generative AI companies in line is to expose them to the Rod of Ridicule. When the bots provide bad medical advice, expose them:

“Maxwell claimed that in the first message Tessa sent, the bot told her that eating disorder recovery and sustainable weight loss can coexist. Then, it recommended that she should aim to lose 1-2 pounds per week. Tessa also suggested counting calories, regular weigh-ins, and measuring body fat with calipers. 

“‘If I had accessed this chatbot when I was in the throes of my eating disorder, I would NOT have gotten help for my ED. If I had not gotten help, I would not still be alive today,” Maxwell wrote on the social media site. “Every single thing Tessa suggested were things that led to my eating disorder.’”

The organization hosting the bot, the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA), withdrew the bot within a week.

How can we, um, diagnose additional harmful recommendations delivered without disclaimers?

Maybe a “The Bots Want to Kill You” contest is in order. Contestants would gather reproducible prompts for consumer-grade generative AI applications. The prompt most likely to result in a person’s demise would receive a prize of…well, that still has to be worked out.

Worries About the Certified Communist Products List

(Imagen 4)

(Part of the biometric product marketing expert series)

How many of you have heard of the Certified Products List (CPL)?

The CPL’s vendor coverage

This list, part of the FBI’s Biometric Specifications website (FBI Biospecs), contains fingerprint card printers, fingerprint card scan systems, identification flats systems, live scan systems, mobile ID devices, and other products. Presence on the CPL indicates that the product complies with a relevant image quality specification such as Appendix F of the Electronic Biometric Transmission Specification.

The Certified Products List has existed since the 1990s and includes a number of products with which I am familiar. These products come from companies past and present, including 3M Cogent, Aware, Biometrics4All, Cross Match, DataWorks Plus, IDEMIA Identity & Security France, Identicator, Mentalix, Morpho, Motorola, NEC Technologies, Printrak, Sagem Defense Securite, Thales, and many others.

As of June 26, 2025, it also references companies such as Shenzhen Interface Cognition Technology Co., Ltd. and Shenzhen Zhi Ang Science and Technology Co., Ltd.

A strongly worded letter

Those and other listings caused heartburn for the bipartisan Members of the U.S. House of Representatives Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party.

So they sent a strongly worded letter.

“We write to respectfully urge the FBI to put an end to its ongoing certification of products from Chinese military-linked and surveillance companies—including companies blacklisted or red-flagged by the U.S. government—that could be used to spy on Americans, strengthen the repressive surveillance state of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), and otherwise threaten U.S. national security.”

Interestingly enough, they make a big deal of Hikvision products on the list, but I searched the CPL multiple times and found no Hikvision products.

The CPL’s purpose

And it’s important to note the FBI’s own caveat about the CPL:

“The Certified Product List (CPL) provides users with a list of products that have been tested and are in compliance with Next Generation Identification image quality specifications (IQS) regarding the capture of friction ridge images. Specifications and standards other than image quality may still need to be met. Appearance on the CPL is not, and should not be construed as, an FBI endorsement, nor should it be relied upon for any requirement beyond IQS. Users should contact their State CJIS Systems Officer (CSO) or Information Security Officer (ISO) to ensure compliance with the necessary policies and/or guidelines.“

In other words, the ONLY purpose of the CPL is to indicate whether the products in question meet technology standards. It has nothing to do with export controls or any other criteria that any law enforcement agency needs to follow when buying a product.

What about the U.S. Department of Commerce?

But the FBI isn’t the only agency “promoting” Chinese biometrics.

Wait until the Select Committee discovers the Department of Commerce’s NIST FRTE lists, including the FRTE 1:1 and FRTE 1:N lists. The tops of these lists (previously known as FRVT) include many Chinese companies.

And actually, the FRTE testing includes facial recognition products that inspired U.S. export bans. Fingerprint devices are harder to use to repress people.

What next?

What happens if the concern extends beyond China, to products produced in France and products produced in Canada?

Regarding the strongly worded letter, Biometric Update added one detail:

“As of this writing, the FBI has not issued a public response. Whether the bureau will move to decertify the flagged companies or push back on the committee’s recommendations remains to be seen. But with multiple national security statutes already in place, and Congress signaling a willingness to legislate further, the days of quiet certification for foreign adversary-linked tech firms may be numbered.”

PFAS Removal: Forever is Forever

From MIT:

“What if we could permanently remove the toxic ‘forever chemicals’ contaminating our water?”

You mean remove them…um…forever?

Hear the audio discussion of Enspired Solutions, Denise Kay, Meng Wang, and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) here: https://www.technologyreview.com/2025/07/22/1117638/fighting-forever-chemicals-and-startup-fatigue/