Biometrics (35)
Find narratives by ethical themes or by technologies.
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- 3 min
- CNBC
- 2013
Facial recognition software, or using computer vision and biometric technology on an image of a person to identify them, has potential applications in law enforcement to help catch suspects or criminals. However, aspects of probability are at play, especially as the photos or videos captured become blurrier and need an additional layer of software analysis to be “de-pixelized.” Also, identification depends on the databases to which the FBI has access.
- CNBC
- 2013
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- 3 min
- CNBC
- 2013
How Facial Recognition Technology Could Help Catch Criminals
Facial recognition software, or using computer vision and biometric technology on an image of a person to identify them, has potential applications in law enforcement to help catch suspects or criminals. However, aspects of probability are at play, especially as the photos or videos captured become blurrier and need an additional layer of software analysis to be “de-pixelized.” Also, identification depends on the databases to which the FBI has access.
How should law enforcement balance training these facial recognition programs with good amounts of quality data and avoiding breaching privacy by accessing more databases with citizen faces? Where can human bias enter into the human-computer systems described in the article? Should there be any margin of error or aspect of probability in technologies that work in volatile areas like law enforcement?
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- 3 min
- techviral
- 2018
In India, where disappearance of children is a common social issue, facial recognition technology has been useful in identifying and located many missing or displaced children. This breakthrough means that the technology can hopefully be applied to help ameliorate this issue, as well as in other areas such as law enforcement.
- techviral
- 2018
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- 3 min
- techviral
- 2018
New Facial Recognition System Helps Trace 3000 Missing Children In Just 4 Days
In India, where disappearance of children is a common social issue, facial recognition technology has been useful in identifying and located many missing or displaced children. This breakthrough means that the technology can hopefully be applied to help ameliorate this issue, as well as in other areas such as law enforcement.
In what ways does this specific technology serve the common good in India? What are the concerns about the privacy of the children involved, and is this outweighed by the value of safety? To what degree does facial recognition technology actually help solve this problem in general?
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- 5 min
- BBC
- 2021
The ability of facial recognition technology used by the South Wales Police force to identify an individual based on biometric data nearly instantly rather than the previous standard of 10 days allowed a mother to say goodbye to her son on his deathbed. It seems to have other positive impacts, such as identifying criminals earlier than they otherwise might have been. However, as is usually the case, concerns abound about how this facial recognition technology can violate human rights.
- BBC
- 2021
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- 5 min
- BBC
- 2021
Facial recognition technology meant mum saw dying son
The ability of facial recognition technology used by the South Wales Police force to identify an individual based on biometric data nearly instantly rather than the previous standard of 10 days allowed a mother to say goodbye to her son on his deathbed. It seems to have other positive impacts, such as identifying criminals earlier than they otherwise might have been. However, as is usually the case, concerns abound about how this facial recognition technology can violate human rights.
Who can be trusted with facial recognition algorithms that can give someone several possibilities for the identity of a particular face? Who can be trusted to decide in what cases this technology can be deployed? How can bias become problematic when a human is selecting one of many faces recommended by the algorithm? Should the idea of constant surveillance or omnipresent cameras make us feel safe or concerned?
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- 7 min
- Wired
- 2021
An anonymous college student created a website titled “Faces of the Riot,” a virtual wall containing over 6,000 face images of insurrectionists present at the riot at the Capitol on January 6th, 2021. The ultimate goal of the creator’s site, which used facial recognition algorithms to crawl through videos posted to the right-wing social media site Parler, is to hopefully have viewers identify any criminals that they recognize to the proper authorities. While the creator put safeguards for privacy in place, such as using “facial detection” rather than “facial recognition”, and their intentions are supposedly positive, some argue that the implications on privacy and the widespread integration of this technique could be negative.
- Wired
- 2021
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- 7 min
- Wired
- 2021
This Site Published Every Face From Parler’s Capitol Riot Videos
An anonymous college student created a website titled “Faces of the Riot,” a virtual wall containing over 6,000 face images of insurrectionists present at the riot at the Capitol on January 6th, 2021. The ultimate goal of the creator’s site, which used facial recognition algorithms to crawl through videos posted to the right-wing social media site Parler, is to hopefully have viewers identify any criminals that they recognize to the proper authorities. While the creator put safeguards for privacy in place, such as using “facial detection” rather than “facial recognition”, and their intentions are supposedly positive, some argue that the implications on privacy and the widespread integration of this technique could be negative.
Who deserves to be protected from having shameful data about themselves posted publicly to the internet? Should there even be any limits on this? What would happen if a similar website appeared in a less seemingly noble context, such as identifying members of a minority group in a certain area? How could sites like this expand the agency of bad or discriminatory actors?
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- 5 min
- New York Times
- 2020
Decisions on whether or not law enforcement should be trusted with facial recognition are tricky, as is argued by Detroit city official James Tate. On one hand, the combination of the bias latent in the technology itself and the human bias of those who use it sometimes leads to over-policing of certain communities. On the other hand, with the correct guardrails, it can be an effective tool in getting justice in cases of violent crime. This article details the ongoing debate about how much facial recognition technology use is proper in Detroit.
- New York Times
- 2020
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- 5 min
- New York Times
- 2020
A Case for Facial Recognition
Decisions on whether or not law enforcement should be trusted with facial recognition are tricky, as is argued by Detroit city official James Tate. On one hand, the combination of the bias latent in the technology itself and the human bias of those who use it sometimes leads to over-policing of certain communities. On the other hand, with the correct guardrails, it can be an effective tool in getting justice in cases of violent crime. This article details the ongoing debate about how much facial recognition technology use is proper in Detroit.
Who should be deciding on the guardrails surrounding the use of facial recognition technology? How can citizens have more control over when their face is being recorded or captured? Can there ever be enough guardrails to truly ensure that facial recognition technology can be used with no chance of bias?
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- 5 min
- CNET
- 2019
Fight for the Future, a digital activist group, used Amazon’s Rekognition facial recognition software to scan faces on the street in Washington DC to show that there should be more guardrails on the use of this type of technology, before it is deployed for ends which violate human rights such as identifying peaceful protestors.
- CNET
- 2019
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- 5 min
- CNET
- 2019
Demonstrators scan public faces in DC to show lack of facial recognition laws
Fight for the Future, a digital activist group, used Amazon’s Rekognition facial recognition software to scan faces on the street in Washington DC to show that there should be more guardrails on the use of this type of technology, before it is deployed for ends which violate human rights such as identifying peaceful protestors.
Does this kind of stunt seem effective at getting the attention of the public on the ways that facial recognition can be misused? How? Who decides what is a “positive” use of facial recognition technology, and how can these use cases be negotiated with those citizens who want their privacy protected?