How Practical is the Facial Recognition?

Our faces are our identification marks. A static reality that can’t be altered with anything. No matter how many expressions we change. Some years ago, we could unquestionably claim the unadulterated ownership of our faces and privacy attached to our facial identity. Now it has become a disputed territory too. We can’t draw private boundaries around it as before. With the advent of AI and the use of algorithms, facial recognition technology is becoming sophisticated with every passing day.

Facial recognition in various forms

When you upload your image on any of your social media accounts, it’s one thing. But when you are roaming in some busy shopping street and your image is captured without your knowledge it is just another thing. Both states are different. Sharing your image yourself doesn’t raise any ethical concern as its sharing without your consent does.

Where can facial recognition be of help?

Social media is a known culprit of this field but most people feel comfortable in this area if their faces are recognized with technology there and made known. It doesn’t even raise any legal concerns since a user consent to compromise their privacy in the ‘terms and conditions’ section. However, there are areas of concern beyond that.

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When it comes to security

Facial recognition has revolutionized tracking of criminals and child abusers. And who won’t feel good in having a technology that can track burglars or pedophiles? With an increasing number of surveillance cameras and more and more suspects being tracked it feels like good news. Although there are pitfalls associated with it.

So far this technology is programmed to detect ‘white males’. For people of color and women, it’s extremely faulty. It renders this technological innovation extremely limited in nature. Another disadvantage is if someone was mistakenly tracked and was otherwise innocent. His face shall remain added with many proven criminals in a database for longer. Thus making his reputation vulnerable.

China’s case study

Chinese authorities these days are heavily flaunting upon their mass surveillance system based on facial recognition technology. Cameras are installed everywhere to detect criminals but again the system is flawed. There is a gap of around a week between a crime is committed and it's getting appeared on billboards. China itself admits the system is not immaculate and can track only 1000 persons at a time. What if a situation arises when a huge concert or a match is underway and security breach takes place. Its improbable that it would work efficiently when thousands of people are present. Therefore its not unjust to deduce that this technology in its current state carry many errors and undesirable effects.

Monitoring and facial recognition

Some time tracking software are opting for feature of facial recognition for attendance. The reason is to get rid of buddy punching practices prevalent in many work spaces. That means a friend would mark attendance for a friend but with FRT it won’t be possible anymore. A good precautionary measure but a software has to abide with data protection laws like GDPR compliance in order not to violate the personal space.

Helping mankind

Yes finding missing persons or support in medical processes is apparently help to humanity but it comes with its own drawbacks. For instance, it detects pain levels or blood pressure which seems ridiculous. Because without proper diagnosis mere guesswork with help of facial monitoring software is bound to mislead. Some pains come with no particular disease. Therefore to analyze health issues without human involvement is erroneous beyond doubt. Likewise for missing people if somebody was mistakenly detected with missing person when he was last seen. It will involve an innocent person into some fishy things for no reason. So albeit facial recognition might help it can’t decide for humans.

FRT and the world of banking

Banking systems are actively considering to rely on facial recognition system. That means if you buy something your face shall be scanned, matched with your account and the payment is made. What if you have an identical twin? It can create some really dramatic situations. Besides who will ensure you actually made the purchase if you are an aged person who forgets things easily.

Brands marketing with the help of this strategy

Your shopping habits and preferences are tracked so that whenever you enter some ball or even walking by the road. The billboards or ad signs around you keep on changing according to your mood. All thanks to FRT. Looks good but many regard it as a breach of privacy as it requires storage of massive amounts of data.

Legal and ethical repercussions

We live in an increasingly democratic age where people have the right to choose. And when it comes to personal space this right is even more important. There has to be proper legislation for setting the limits upon guarding the individuals’ privacy. Consent is a small word bearing huge value. If you are using this technology in your premises or for employees, you need to make it known.

Conclusion

Just like any newly innovated technology, FRT needs a long way to be implemented correctly. Having technical errors in the developmental phase is not uncommon. It can be fixed with time. On the other hand the issue of privacy remains that too can be addressed with correct legislation.

I am precisely described as a tech junkie working in content development and marketing. Literature lover by default. My interests range from politics to social issues, books to tech trends, gadgets, marketing techniques and so on.