Thanks to new technologies, we have managed to develop different types of tools to facilitate user identification. One of the last is the so-called facial recognition. Thanks to our image we can validate ourselves in the different computer systems that exist in the world. However, the very use of our image has also given rise to talk. Many people claim that this system will be used to control society.
Facial recognition has already advanced steadily in different countries of the world. As in China, where it is even possible to open an account in a bank in the country without being there. In stores in Toronto, United States, more of the same happens: it is used in order to detect thieves. Ways to recognize people with covered faces are even being investigated.
Currently the facial recognition market moves more than 3,300 million dollars, a figure that could reach 7,700 million dollars annually in 2022. This is thanks to the degree of efficiency available to the algorithms, reaching especially large financing rounds . However, let’s focus on the safety of the technology.
In 2014, Professors Alessandro Acquisti, Ralph Gross and Fred Stutzman published the results of the study “Facial Recognition and Privacy in the Age of Augmented Reality.” Thanks to the use of a webcam and facial recognition software, they were able to recognize one in three students who were circulating at a prestigious university. And for this they only had to cross the image obtained with the information offered by the Google search engine or Facebook profiles. Sometimes they were even able to access the students’ social security number.
The danger is obvious: if you take a photograph of us anywhere and cross that data with those existing on the Internet using facial recognition technologies, it is easy to find most of the people in the world. Including access, sometimes, to private information.
On the other hand, yes, the so-called predictive police could be launched, which would have the objective of acting before the crime occurs. Artificial intelligence would allow to follow someone through security cameras, obtaining statistical information about their tastes and crimes that they could launch. Although, again, it is possible that people’s privacy was violated.
In any case, the danger is more than present. On the one hand, it is possible to take a photograph of people in public places. And, later, contrast the images in databases of different services. The objective could be varied: from trying to avoid crimes to knowing the tastes of the users. However, no one has said the exact limit at which investigations should stop.
Easy recognition technology is becoming more effective, and researchers are continually refining it. Of course, it will be necessary to implement limits in order to prevent the saved data from falling into the wrong hands or carrying out bad practices.
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