Facial Recognition Technology1
Facial Recognition Technology
Introduction
The topic of this essay is privacy concerns around the subject of Facial Recognition Technology. This will be a critical analysis which will identify and summarize what Facial Recognition Technology is for government and businesses. This critical analysis will also include critics of Facial Recognition Technology such as The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLC). The ACLU is criticizing state governments such as Ohio who are implementing the system. I will be responding to the question in this essay: what is the ACLU concerned about with regards to certain abuses by the government? Next, I will take a critical analysis of how an individual’s privacy rights would be violated if Facial Recognition Technology is used by businesses? I will also respond to how an individual’s privacy rights would be violated if Facial Recognition Technology is used by businesses? I will also look at how businesses could abuse this technology in advertising campaigns. I will also answer the question, who are the advocates of this technology and what is their argument regarding potential privacy violations? Lastly, I will imagine that I am a future IT Manager who is being pressured to implement Facial Recognition Technology. In this scenario, I am aware that the general public is not aware of the potential privacy issues. I will discuss how I would handle this situation. First, I will identify and summarize what Facial Recognition Technology is for government and businesses.
Facial Recognition Technology
What is Facial Recognition Technology and how to do government and businesses use it? Facial Recognition Technology is using computer software to save digital images of someone’s face either through photos or through video and by comparing and contrasting these images with the faces of other people – a definite face recognition can be made by using this technology (Animetrics.com, 2012). Animetrics (2012) which is a particular company that produces this software caters to the military and to the law enforcement fields. Another company that uses Facial Recognition Technology is BioMetrics (2014). The people that work for this latter company are all over the world, such as in Toronto in Canada and in Germany in Europe. This company explains that businesses such as MasterCard will use Facial Recognition Technology in order to verify that the user of the credit card is the authentic owner of the credit card and is not committing fraud by using the credit card (BioMetrics.com, 2014). Next, I will discuss the critics of Facial Recognition Technology, such as the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
The ACLU is criticizing state governments such as Ohio who are implementing the system. One of the main criticisms that the ACLU has regarding the Facial Recognition Technology according to Crockford (September 3, 2013) is that since the technology is based on matching photos to the images saved by the computer software, any picture from someone on the street could also be used and then privacy becomes an issue. Additional complaints that the ACLU have about the technology is that the software was implemented by the law enforcement of Ohio without any public awareness and even the person heading up the project was only aware that the technology was being used two weeks after it was activated (Crockford, September 3, 2013). Ohio’s excuse for going ahead without the program without having any public forums or awareness on how their privacy could be invaded is that 26 other states in the United States were already using the technology and most likely the people in those states are not aware of the potential invasion to their privacy as well (Crockford, September 3, 2013). Next, I will discuss how an individual’s privacy rights could be abused by this technology if businesses use it.
The potential privacy issues that could come into play if businesses use Facial Recognition Technology is that someone could have simply changed their appearance, such as losing a lot of weight, changing their hairstyle, received plastic surgery – and then when they go to use their credit card – they will be deemed as a criminal for fraud even they are the rightful owner of the credit card account. Next, I will look how businesses could abuse this technology in advertising campaigns.
According to MyCustomer.com (2016) Plan in the United Kingdom used Facial Recognition Technology to target advertising just too young girls and to young women. The software did not even allow the male gender to see the advertisement – they could only see the non-profit Plan’s logo. Some people think that in the saturated market of advertising that Facial Recognition Technology is the way of the future and is necessary and is needed (MyCustomer.com, 2016). Others believe that the technology is a little gimmicky and also expensive and most likely a fad like many advertising gimmicks that come and go (MyCustomer.com, 2016). Next, I will discuss who are the advocates of this technology and what do they have to say regarding the potential privacy issues.
The advocates for Facial Recognition Technology in the United States would come right back to the sources who were quoted at the beginning of this essay. Animetrics.com (2012) which sells this technology to law enforcement and to the military would be some of the biggest advocates of this technology. When military explorations and/or police cases are shut and closed because of the help of Facial Recognition Technology – these latter fields would be supportive of the technology. The privacy issues would just need to be handled by experts ensuring they use only government documented photos and images to use for comparison with the software, as well forerunners in the field of protecting the privacy issues would try to factor in for drastic physical appearance changes by incorporating this technology with other forensic methods such as finger printing. Lastly, I will imagine that I am a future IT Manager who is being pressured to implement Facial Recognition Technology. In this scenario, I am aware that the general public is not aware of the potential privacy issues.
If I were an IT Manager working in let’s say a bank issuing credit cards and Facial Recognition Technology was being used, I would prepare brochures that would explain in detail to each customer (as well as mail them out to existing customers) what Facial Recognition Technology and how they must protect their privacy. I would also advise all old, present and future clients of the credit cards to inform the bank as soon as they can of any physical appearance changes they may have made in order to ensure that there will not be a situation of mistaken identity.
Conclusion
The topic of this essay was the privacy concerns around the subject of Facial Recognition Technology. This was a critical analysis which identified and summarized what Facial Recognition Technology is for government and businesses. This critical analysis also included critics of Facial Recognition Technology such as The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLC). The ACLU is criticizing state governments such as Ohio who are implementing the system. I responded to the question in this essay: what is the ACLU concerned about with regards to certain abuses by the government? Next, there was a critical analysis of how an individual’s privacy rights would be violated if Facial Recognition Technology is used by businesses? I responded to how an individual’s privacy rights would be violated if Facial Recognition Technology is used by businesses? I also looked at how businesses could abuse this technology in advertising campaigns. I also answered the question, who are the advocates of this technology and what is their argument regarding potential privacy violations? Lastly, I imagined that I wasan IT Manager who was being pressured to implement Facial Recognition Technology. In this scenario, I was aware that the general public is not aware of the potential privacy issues. I discussed how I would handle this situation. First, I identified and summarized what Facial Recognition Technology is for government and businesses.
References
Animetrics.com. (2012). Facial Recognition Applications. Conway, NH: Animetrics. Retrieved
from:
Biometrics.com. (2014). Facial Recognition. Global: Biometrics.com. Retrieved from:
Crockford, K. (September 3, 2013). “Ready, fire, aim: Ohio officials implement statewide face
recognition program without a whiff of public debate,” American Civil Liberties Union. Massachusetts, United States: ACLU of Massachusetts Technology for Liberty Project. Retrieved from:
Mycustomer.com. (2016). “Facial recognition ad campaigns: clever or controversial?” My
customer.com. United States: Mycustomer.com. Retrieved from: