There are numerous voices around the world opposing the use of facial recognition technology. Many people believe facial recognition poses a severe threat to individual privacy, free speech, racial inequality, and data security. People who oppose it have solid grounds for doing so, and they have strong reservations of employing this technology in any form, citing its extremely high false positive rate and its implications for civil and personal liberties, specifically individual privacy.
Critics argue that facial recognition is biassed towards people of color, women, and children. Surveillance cameras are more common in places where immigrants live, which adds fuel to the flames. The explanation is the greater crime rate in those areas. Facial technology has not matured sufficiently, and its usage under such an environment worsens an already complex situation. The flaws in the justice system will expand as a result of the technology's inefficiency, contributing to harsher sentences and higher bails for those affected.
Forced deployment
Despite its flaws, facial recognition technologies are used by police and other law enforcement agencies across the world. Surveillance is the key industry in which it is most widely applied. It is also commonly used in airports for passenger screening, as well as for housing and employment decisions. In 2020, San Francisco, Boston, and a few other localities restricted the use of facial recognition.
According to an article on the Harvard blog by Alex Najibi, “police use face recognition to compare suspects’ photos to mugshots and driver’s license images; it is estimated that almost half of American adults – over 117 million people, as of 2016 – have photos within a facial recognition network used by law enforcement. This participation occurs without consent, or even awareness, and is bolstered by a lack of legislative oversight.”
Private companies are also attempting to capitalise on biometric scanning in various ways and collecting user data for a variety of purposes. It is not new to blame Google and Meta for collecting excessive amounts of user data. The most recent clamour came when the World Coin initiative, founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, suggested iris scanning as a requirement for coin ownership. These private-sector initiatives are troubling.
Compared to other biometric systems such as fingerprints, iris scanning, and voice recognition, facial recognition has the highest error rate and is the most likely to cause privacy problems and bias against marginalised people and children.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (S.T.O.P.) oppose the use of facial recognition in any form. S.T.O.P. is based in New York, and its work focuses on civil rights. It also conducts study and activism on issues of surveillance technology abuse.
Regarding the ban on the scan movement, S.T.O.P. says, "when we say scan, we mean the face scan feature of facial recognition technology. Surveillance, particularly facial recognition. It is a threat to free speech, freedom of association, and other civil liberties. Ban the Scan is a campaign and coalition built around passing two packages of bills that would ban facial recognition in a variety of contexts in New York City and New York State.”
