TECH TALK: Some of the biggest tech companies are reviewing their investment in facial recognition, says BILL MAGEE
Facial recognition technology has reached a tipping point. A growing array of tech big beasts is retreating from further development of live-capture faceprint signature systems. IBM, Amazon and Facebook/Meta have now been joined by Microsoft. The software giant is reported to be closely monitoring the law enforcement role in remote biometric identification practices.
The European Union has gone further by calling for a blanket ban on police using such technology in public places. A huge question mark hangs over the entire artificial intelligence-based ID facial tracking business.
Complaints relating to privacy, security, lack of transparency and accountability issues have soared. The global debate has evolved into what amounts to a highly-controversial and equally sensitive ethical issue.
Forbes reported on a pivotal case. New York headquartered Clearview AI has been hit by a barrage of privacy complaints in Europe for allegedly breaching the bloc’s strict data protection laws. Clearview’s probing facial recognition algorithm is used by thousands of government and law enforcement agencies worldwide.
Yet, there appears no way to halt the cybermarch of what amounts to a shady matrix of “real time” automated and highly-invasive mass surveillance of our busy lives.
Allied Market Research expects worldwide sales to reach £7 billion by 2022. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) confirms cyber surveillance is booming globally, but few rules exist governing its usage.
Norton Security points to Information collected from a single facial image is saved in a database, more probably multi-databases. Often without permission granted by the owner of that face.
Symantec-owned Norton adds that the tech ends up “in lots of places” with little knowledge of who has access. Innumerable organisations track such images with ease. Often selling the data on.
It should be remembered we all but give up our right to ownership on signing up to, for example, social media platforms. Hackers and scammers, of course, stalk the internet 24/7 for identity theft opportunities.
High-tech face recognition systems appear to be everywhere. It enables you to go through airport security, enter your workplace or the gym, purchase products, unlock your phone. Its presence when buying a round of drinks at a bar will soon be commonplace.
Face ID has become so ingrained and entrenched in our daily lives. Just think of the millions-upon-millions of videos and photos online, via mobiles, closed-circuit television (CCTV) security cameras.
So why is Facebook (Meta) closing its facial recognition system? Although it’s not extending this move to its nascent metaverse technology, the social media giant has cited growing concerns over its use.
It has been under intense scrutiny from regulatory authorities over user safety and claims of a wide range of abuse. Its public reputation was further damaged by a data storage leak.
Now, a billion subscribers’ images, more than a third of Facebook’s daily active users globally who opted into AI-powered facial recognition software, are being deleted. Tellingly though, a photo remains on site, up for screengrab by just about anyone.
The social media company has just settled a class action in Illinois over claims it collected and stored biometric data of users without proper consent.
Google research analyst Timnit Gebru told The New York Times that facial recognition software just “might be the most divisive technology”.
Google collaborated with the MIT Media Lab. Joint analysis reveals “very high disparities in error rates” especially between lighter-skinned men and darker-skinned women.
There is also “automation bias.” Gebru adds that if intuition tells you an image doesn’t look like Smith, but the computer model tells you it is him with 99% accuracy “you’re more likely to believe that model”.
Reuters says the entire tech industry has “faced a reckoning” over the ethics surrounding the use of face recognition systems. Are we at a watershed moment?
IBM’s decision to no longer research, develop or offer facial ID, Amazon’s one-year moratorium on use of its “Rekognition” software by law enforcement authorities extended “until further notice”, Facebook joining the list with Microsoft keeping a watching brief. They say money talks.
Such a powerful grouping, involving a combined market capitalisation running into the trillions, may very well carry enough commercial clout to force a “time out” of the unacceptable face of such an all-pervasive technology.
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