Friday, July 20, 2012

Americans may not realize it, but many are in a face recognition database now

People are not going to, nor should they have to, start walking around outside with a bag over their head to avoid security cameras capturing images of them. Yet "face recognition allows for covert, remote and mass capture and identification of images -- and the photos that may end up in a database include not just a person's face but also how she is dressed and possibly whom she is with. This creates threats to free association and free expression not evident in other biometrics," testified EFF Staff Attorney Jennifer Lynch about What Facial Recognition Technology Means for Privacy and Civil Liberties.
There are 32 states that use some form of facial recognition for DMV photos. Every day, Facebook happily slurps up and automatically scans with facial recognition software about 300 million photos that users upload to the social networking giant. "Face recognition is here to stay, and, though many Americans may not realize it, they are already in a face recognition database," Lynch said. In fact, when you stop to consider Facebook "at least 54% of the United States population already has a face print." Now it purchased Face.com which had 31 billion face images profiled.
Previously Senator Al Franken declared privacy is a fundamental right and explained in a letter to NTIA [PDF] how the Fourth Amendment and privacy are taking a beating via technology. Recently Sen. Franken said "The dimensions of our faces are as unique to us as our fingerprints. And right now technology exists that gives the government and companies the ability to figure out your name and other personal information about you with nothing more than a photograph." Today the Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law held a hearing about facial recognition in regards to privacy and civil liberties.

Read more: http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/81052

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