Facial recognition technology has been around since the mid-1960s and has seen tremendous growth over the years. Applications can be found anywhere; tagging photos on social media, biometric locks, surveillance; the list is endless. While many of these may seem harmless and appear to facilitate efficiency for everyday tasks, scepticism on the technology has gained a greater foothold in past years. As the technology is achieving greater accuracy, privacy is becoming an increased concern. Some governments have set up permanent surveillance systems, collecting incredible amounts of data on citizens. While these systems are often claimed to provide safety on the streets, many are concerned about potential other uses of the data collected.
Worldwide, only a very limited number of countries have nation-wide bans in place: Belgium and Luxembourg. All other countries have no to very limited regulations regarding facial technology that should perhaps be reassessed. With America experiencing most of the uproar against the technology, action groups gained their first victory in 2019; San Francisco was the first American city to ban the private use of facial recognition technology. Now, a year and around ten additional city-wide bans later, the overall paradigm seems to be shifting even further. Recently, Portland was the first city in the US to completely ban facial recognition technology for both private and governmental use. This seems to have sparked more discussion on the regulations that should be in place regarding the technology.
Studies have found concerning indications of the effects of facial recognition in everyday settings. For example, Andrejevic & Selwyn (2019) present social challenges facial recognition can have in schools. It is found that upon integration of the technology, the nature of schools can become oppressive, authoritarian and divisive. Additionally, the technology is being mass deployed in law enforcement, without any scientific evidence that suspects can be better identified. In fact, it is imposing stronger biases on law enforcement as the technology fosters a false sense of security. These are only some of the examples that have been found now that facial technology is being integrated.
Based on these reasons, I would personally urge all governments to strongly consider limiting the use of facial recognition technology on a large scale. While it is constantly developing and admittedly convenient in many scenarios, the actual scientific benefits for many applications are yet to be proven. Additionally, many risks have been identified that, while perhaps contained, for now, could start showing its effects at any time.
What do you think? Should facial recognition be better regulated worldwide? Do the applications outweigh the potential risks?
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/jul/29/what-is-facial-recognition-and-how-sinister-is-it
https://www.wired.com/story/portlands-face-recognition-ban-twist-smart-cities/
https://www-nature-com.eur.idm.oclc.org/articles/d41586-019-02514-7
Andrejevic, M. & Selwyn, N. (2019). Facial recognition technology in schools: critical questions and concerns. Learning, Media and Technology 45(2), pp. 115-128.
Dear Aron,
Thank you for your article. I agree with what you have stated, facial recongition should be controlled before it become so high that its adverse effects will be too hard to control. If states as well as companies start to collect all of this data about us, one could think that our lives will end up to be cfully controlled. However one strong positive effect that facial recognition could offer is helping to find criminals or suspects that are on the run. With this facial recognition, it will much easier to find them and send them to court. Curious to see how this will evolve
Hi Aron,
Great post! We greatly depend on the users of facial recognition technology to work with it ethically. I did not know yet that some states and cities are banning private use of it.
When I visited Shenzhen, China, I heard different stories about the social credit system and the role facial recognition plays in it. For example, certain crossings with traffic lights had camera’s installed to spot people who would cross the the street illegally. Such people would get immediatly fined and their credit scores in WeChat’s & Alipay’s systems are adapted. These credit scores matter as in that “good behaving” people get different rights than others. For example, millions of people don’t have the right to buy domestic train/flight tickets based on this system. Others can more easily get a loan as they behaved better. (https://china2025.nl/alipay-wechat-pay-en-hun-score-systeem-voor-gebruikers/)
Of course it is easy to point at China. Similarly, in other places this technology can be used in a bad and a good way. It depends on the legal framework with a strong ethical backbone whether or not a small elite group of people can decide what people may or may not do (i.e. take away their freedom). These technologies do give such groups in power more control over the general public. To make it a bit more difficult, what do you for example think of number plate recognition on the Dutch highways? Do you think that is also something that should be limited? And to what extent should people get fined for driving too fast while being recognized by a camera?
Cheers!
Interesting blog, you are mentioning some interesting concerns and scary possibilities, however there might also be a positive side regarding facial recognition.
What if, for example facial recognition allows airport marshalls to detect known terrorists on an airport? There could be positive benefits if such systems were implemented, for example in this news article: https://nypost.com/2019/08/05/facial-recognition-leads-cops-to-alleged-rapist-in-under-24-hours/.
However, the introduction of facial recognition monitoring is a risky process requiring strong regulations. Weak rules can transform a terrorist tracking system into a police state monitoring device.
Nevertheless, I would see good opportunities here which can help prevent serious crimes.