BIOMETRICS
Saving Face The fast and loose adoption of facial recognition technology, writes Megan Gates in Security Technology, has potentially negative impacts for marginalised people, such as minority groups, already at risk of discrimination. It was a social media explosion of sorts. Suddenly, thousands of people were uploading to Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram selfies of what they would look like in 10, 20, or 30 years.
They had created the images using FaceApp, a popular smartphone application that allows users to upload photos and select various filters to make themselves appear younger or older. But, most users did not realise that by uploading their likeness to FaceApp, they were also giving the company the right to use that image for commercial purposes and to improve its facial recognition features through artificial intelligence programs. After users became increasingly aware about how FaceApp could use their photos, they also raised concerns about whether the Russian-based company was
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sharing data it collected with the Russian government—and what ability they had to stop it. “Given the popularity of FaceApp and these national security and privacy concerns, I ask that the FBI assess whether the personal data uploaded by millions of Americans onto FaceApp may be finding its way into the hands of the Russian government, or entities with ties to the Russian government,” wrote U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) in a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray and Federal Trade Commission Chairman Joseph Simons. “Furthermore, I ask that the FTC consider whether there are adequate safeguards in place to prevent the privacy of Americans using this application, including government personnel and military service members, from being compromised.”
FaceApp has denied that it shares any user data with the Russian government. But the incident is the latest in a broad conversation about technology, accuracy, and expectations of user privacy related to facial recognition technology. In 2017, the U.S. House of Representatives Oversight Committee found that 18 U.S. states have memorandums of understanding with the FBI that allows them to share databases with the Bureau—effectively resulting in more than half of American adults being part of a facial recognition database. The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) recommended in 2016 that the FBI make changes to its facial recognition database to improve data security and ensure privacy, accuracy, and transparency of the data that is included. As of April 2019, the FBI had not implemented those recommendations fully. “Facial recognition is a fascinating technology with a huge potential to affect a number of different applications. But right now, it is virtually unregulated,” said Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings (D-MD) in a hearing on the technology in May 2019. Under Cummings’ direction, the committee has held several hearings on facial recognition technology, and its subcommittees are conducting deeper dives to provide recommendations on how to make use of the technology more accurate, while protecting Americans’ right to privacy and equal protection under the law. “Facial recognition technology misidentifies women and minorities at a much higher rate than white males, increasing the risks of racial and gender bias,” Cummings said.
December 2019/January 2020
