What is Facial Recognition & Its Dangers
About the Newslette: In this week's edition Facial Recognition has been highlighted
What is facial recognition?
A face analyzer is software that identifies or confirms a person's identity using their face. It works by identifying and measuring facial features in an image. Facial recognition can identify human faces in images or videos, determine if the face in two images belongs to the same person, or search for a face among a large collection of existing images. Biometric security systems use facial recognition to uniquely identify individuals during user onboarding or logins as well as strengthen user authentication activity. Mobile and personal devices also commonly use face analyzer technology for device security.
What are the benefits of facial recognition technology?
Some benefits of face recognition systems are as follows:
Efficient security
Facial recognition is a quick and efficient verification system. It is faster and more convenient compared to other biometric technologies like fingerprints or retina scans. There are also fewer touchpoints in facial recognition compared to entering passwords or PINs. It supports multifactor authentication for additional security verification.
Improved accuracy
Facial recognition is a more accurate way to identify individuals than simply using a mobile number, email address, mailing address, or IP address. For example, most exchange services, from stocks to cryptos, now rely on facial recognition to protect customers and their assets.
Easier integration
Face recognition technology is compatible and integrates easily with most security software. For example, smartphones with front-facing cameras have built-in support for facial recognition algorithms or software code.
What are the use cases of facial recognition systems?
The following are some practical applications of a face recognition system:
Fraud detection
Companies use facial recognition to uniquely identify users creating a new account on an online platform. After this is done, facial recognition can be used to verify the identity of the actual person using the account in case of risky or suspicious account activity.
Cyber security
Companies use facial recognition technology instead of passwords to strengthen cybersecurity measures. It is challenging to gain unauthorized access into facial recognition systems, as nothing can be changed about your face. Face recognition software is also a convenient and highly accurate security tool for unlocking smartphones and other personal devices.
Airport and border control
Many airports use biometric data as passports, allowing travellers to skip long lines and walk through an automated terminal to reach their gate faster. Face recognition technology in the form of e-Passports reduces wait times and improves security.
Banking
Individuals authenticate transactions by simply looking at their phone or computer instead of using one-time passwords or two-step verification. Facial recognition is safer as there are no passwords for hackers to compromise. Similarly, some ATM cash withdrawals and checkout registers can use facial recognition for approving payments.
Healthcare
Facial recognition can be used to gain access to patient records. It can streamline the patient registration process in a healthcare facility and autodetect pain and emotion in patients.
How does facial recognition work?
Facial recognition works in three steps: detection, analysis, and recognition.
Detection
Detection is the process of finding a face in an image. Enabled by computer vision, facial recognition can detect and identify individual faces from an image containing one or many people's faces. It can detect facial data in both front and side face profiles.
Computer vision
Machines use?computer vision?to identify people, places, and things in images with accuracy at or above human levels and with much greater speed and efficiency. Using complex artificial intelligence (AI) technology, computer vision automates extraction, analysis, classification, and understanding of useful information from image data. The image data takes many forms, such as the following:
·?????Single images
·?????Video sequences
·?????Views from multiple cameras
. Three-dimensional data
Analysis
The facial recognition system then analyzes the image of the face. It maps and reads face geometry and facial expressions. It identifies facial landmarks that are key to distinguishing a face from other objects. The facial recognition technology typically looks for the following:
·?????Distance between the eyes
·?????Distance from the forehead to the chin
·?????Distance between the nose and mouth
·?????Depth of the eye sockets
·?????Shape of the cheekbones
·?????Contour of the lips, ears, and chin
?The system then converts the face recognition data into a string of numbers or points called a faceprint. Each person has a unique faceprint, similar to a fingerprint. The information used by facial recognition can also be used in reverse to digitally reconstruct a person's face.
Security - law enforcement
Forensic specialists can use Automated Biometric Identification Systems (ABIS) to?compare multiple types of biometrics.
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This market is led by increased activity to combat crime and terrorism.
The benefits of facial recognition systems for policing are evident: detection and prevention of crime.
Facial recognition CCTV systems can?improve performance in carrying public security missions. Let's illustrate this with four examples:
1.??Find missing children & disoriented adults.
2.??Identify & find exploited children.
3.??Identify &track criminals.
4.??Support & accelerate investigations.
1. Find Missing children & disoriented adults.
Face recognition CCTV systems can significantly accelerate operators’ efforts by enabling them to add a reference photo provided by the missing child’s parents and match it with past appearances of that face captured on video. Police can use face recognition to search video sequences (aka?video analytics) of the estimated location and time the child has been declared missing.
Read more on how Delhi Police used a facial recognition system to trace?3,000 missing children in 4 days.
Police officers can better figure out the child’s movements before going missing and locate where he/she was last seen. A real-time alert can trigger an alarm whenever there's a match.Police can then confirm its accuracy and do what's necessary to recover the missing children. The same process can be applied for?disoriented?missing adults?(e.g., with dementia, amnesia, epilepsy, or Alzheimer’s disease).
2.?Identify & find exploited children.
Isolating the appearances of specific individuals in a video sequence is critical. It can accelerate investigators’ jobs in?child exploitation?cases as well.
?Video analytics can help build chronologies, track activity on a map, reveal details, and discover non-obvious connections among the players in a case.
?3. Identify & track criminals.?
Face recognition CCTV can be used to enable police to track and?identify past criminals?suspected of perpetrating an additional infraction. Police can also take?preventive actions. By using an image of a known criminal from a video or an external picture (or a database), operators can?detect matches in live video and react before it’s too late.
4. Support & accelerate investigations.
Facial recognition CCTV systems can be used to support investigators searching for video evidence in the aftermath of an incident.
?The ability to isolate suspects and individuals' appearances is critical for accelerating investigators’ review of video evidence for relevant details. They can better understand how situations developed.
Recognition
Facial recognition can identify a person by comparing the faces in two or more images and assessing the likelihood of a face match. For example, it can verify that the face shown in a selfie taken by a mobile camera matches the face in an image of a government-issued ID like a driver's license or passport, as well as verify that the face shown in the selfie does not match a face in a collection of faces previously captured.
General Facial Recognition Statistics and Facts
Six reasons you should be worried about facial recognition
Facial recognition has simplified many processes which were earlier cumbersome with added security. However, it is not without its flaws. The dangers of facial recognition pose a serious threat to online identities being misused by hackers for illegal activities.
Facial data serves as a gateway between users’ offline and online identities. When used ethically, facial recognition technology can improve public safety. However, if the technology is abused by hackers, it can lead to potential financial and reputational damage to businesses. Businesses should study and understand the dangers of facial recognition to provide efficient solutions to their users.
POENTIAL DANGERS OF FACIAL RECOGNITION
Although facial recognition technologies have proven to be a boon for many sectors, they have their share of flaws and vulnerabilities. The concerns regarding the dangers of facial recognition are justified as they pose a serious threat to consumers as well as companies.?Technical?inaccuracies
Facial recognition technologies promise accurate identification. However,?numerous studies have shown that facial recognition technology is still vulnerable. The technology has still a long way to go before it can become completely reliable. The error identification rate has still not dropped down to an acceptable level. Accurate data generation and user recognition still prove to be major challenges in implementing facial recognition technology.?Governments have already been utilizing technologies like AR for curbing and investigating criminal activities, and facial recognition can provide significant improvements in maintaining law and order. However, the technology is still in its infancy and has issues in differentiating people having similar facial features. This poses a serious threat to individuals in situations regarding law and order situations. An identity mismatch can land an innocent citizen in trouble while letting a criminal go scot-free.There is a worrying cause of concern as many government-established facial recognition surveillance systems have reported high error rates. Facial recognition software has also proven to be?biased against people of color. There is a lot of concern against this issue as this may result in the exploitation of minorities when the technology becomes more mainstream. A suitable framework with advanced improvements in technology is the need of the hour to mitigate the issue of biased decisions.The primary concern raised by citizens regarding facial recognition is the lack of user consent involved in the implementation process. CCTV surveillance systems are already being employed by many governments around the world. User consent is usually not sought in public places collecting citizens’ facial data. This enables automated live surveillance of people. Governments can track each and every move of citizens compromising their privacy. If used carelessly, every citizen can turn into a walking ID card, which leads to privacy, ethics, and security concerns. The right to privacy matters even in public places. Facial recognition methods employed by governments undermine the right to privacy as it means we can no longer do anything in public without the state having knowledge about it. A future with automated blanket surveillance may be possible due to the mainstream employment of facial recognition technologies.
Identity fraud
If facial data gets compromised, it poses huge threats to governments as well as ordinary citizens. If the security measures employed with facial recognition technology are not stringent enough, hackers can easily spoof other peoples’ identities to carry out illegal activities. This may result in huge financial losses if the data required for financial transactions gets stolen or duplicated. Financial institutes employing facial recognition methods for providing financial services must ensure to provide strict security measures to protect user data. In the consumer electronics space, mobile companies employing facial recognition technologies in mobile devices aren’t foolproof. Apart from a few manufacturers, most facial recognition tools are nothing more than gimmicks. These systems can be fooled easily leading to compromise of user data. However, the instances of identity fraud are decreasing due to increasingly advanced security measures. Fooling a facial recognition system has become difficult, but it’s still not impossible.
Unclear legal or regulatory framework
There is a lack of detailed and specific information regarding the use of facial recognition technology among common citizens. Most countries have no specific legislation or rules that regulate the use of facial recognition technology. This legal loophole opens the door to abuse of the technology. Governments or business organizations can use the facial recognition data without the knowledge or consent of the people and use them in unapproved ways. Safeguarding of personal data has become a huge concern in today’s day and age. Citizens have become aware of protecting their personal data and prevent its use and misuse in public. A proper regulatory framework needs to be employed by governments to safeguard the rights of the citizens. Governments can enact laws and put ethical practices in place regarding facial recognition technology. This provides a sense of assurance to the citizens and decreases the chances of mistrust. Organizations can implement strict guidelines regarding the use of facial recognition technology at their workplace.
Unethical use
One of the significant dangers of facial recognition is the unethical use of technology. Gathering facial data without consent is one thing. However, collecting information without the user even being aware raises a huge debate regarding the unethical use of the technology. Hidden cameras are being employed at various places without the user being aware. Such data can be exploited and can be used unethically, compromising the data of unaware citizens. This not only violates an individual’s right to privacy but also infringes his right to information. For example, a pizza restaurant in Norway was found to be using?facial recognition technology with hidden cameras for delivering gendered advertising. Such instances can greatly harm the reputation of the firms carrying out such illegal activities.Organizations must abstain from putting such practices in place which gather data without the knowledge of the concerned people. Facial recognition technology can be deployed selectively too. For example, it can be used to identify illegal citizens and refugees or racial profiling. Deployment of controversial facial recognition technology poses concerns regarding human rights. Thus, human rights should be of prime importance while implementing facial recognition technology.
Data theft
Facial recognition software depends on and generates a large amount of data. Storage of data becomes a major concern with this technology. However, the prevention of data theft is a bigger concern regarding technology. Database hacking can compromise the data of thousands, if not millions of people. There have been numerous instances of?data theft from publicly accessible databases. Prevention of data theft should be one of the priorities while implementing facial recognition technologies. Once the user data is compromised, it is compromised forever. This poses a significant threat as the data can be misused for a long period of time if the issue is not resolved.Agreed, there are various dangers of facial recognition technology. However, these risks can be overcome with proper implementation of the technology. Safe storage of facial recognition data and ethical use will help eliminate the major concerns regarding the use of facial recognition technology. A healthy debate regarding the implementation of facial recognition technology by governments as well as private institutes is the need of the hour to find a suitable solution to the issues faced by the technology.
Note : Interestingly Interpol already has its own Facial Recognition System in place (International Police)
Anjoum Sirohhi