INTERACTIVE SESSION TECHNOLOGY Do You Know Who Is Using Your Face? Facial recognition is an artificial intelligence applica- of the images then being shared around the world. tion that can uniquely identify a person by analyz- The databases are pulled together with images from ing patterns based on the person's facial textures social networks, photo websites, dating services like and shape. Facial recognition systems can be used to Okcupid, and cameras placed in restaurants and on identify people in photos, video, or real-time. A fa- college quads, While there is no precise count of the cial recognition system uses biometrics to map facial data sets, privacy activists have pinpointed reposito features from a photograph or video. It compares the ries that were built by Microsoft, Stanford University, information with a database of known faces to find a and others, with one holding over 10 million im- match. The face recognition system uses computer al- ages while another had more than two million. gorithms to highlight specific, distinctive details about Georgetown University has estimated that photos of a person's face, such as the distance between the eyes nearly half of all U.S. adults have been entered into or the shape of the chin. (Some algorithms explicitly at least one face recognition database. map the face, measuring the distances between the Tech giants like Facebook and Google are reputed eyes, nose, and mouth and so on. Others map the face to have amassed the largest facial data sets, which using more abstract features.) The system converts they do not distribute, according to research papers. these details to a mathematical representation and But other companies and universities have widely compares them to data on other faces stored in a face shared their image troves with researchers, govern- recognition database. The data about a particular face ments, and private enterprises in Australia, China, is called a face template, and it can be compared to India, Singapore, and Switzerland for training artifi- other templates on file. Facial recognition technology cial intelligence, according to academics, activists, learns how to identify people by analyzing as many and public papers. digital pictures as possible using neural networks, Startup Clearview Al created a powerful facial rec- which are complex mathematical systems that require ognition app that enables the user to take a picture of vast amounts of data to build pattern recognition. a person, upload it, and be able to view public photos Face recognition tools are now frequently used of that person, along with links to where those pho- in routine policing. Police compare mugshots of ar- tos appeared. The system uses a database of more restees to local, state, and federal face recognition than three billion images that Clearview claims to databases. Law enforcement can query these mug- have scraped from Facebook, You Tube, Venmo, and shot databases to identify people in photos taken millions of other websites. Federal and state law from social media, traffic cameras, and closed circuit enforcement officers have used the Clearview app television surveillance cameras in stores, parks, and to help solve shoplifting, identity theft, credit card other places. There are systems to compare faces in fraud, murder, and child sexual exploitation cases. real-time with "hot lists" of people suspected of il- Companies and labs have gathered facial images legal activity. Face recognition has also been used for more than a decade, and image databases are an in airports, border crossings, and events such as the essential component of facial recognition technol- Olympic games. The FBI spent more than a decade ogy. But people often have no idea that their faces using such systems to compare driver's license and are in them. And although names are typically not visa photos against the faces of suspected criminals. attached to the photos, individuals can be recognized Facial recognition systems can make products because each face is unique to a person. There is no safer and more secure. For example, face authentica- oversight of these facial recognition data repositories. tion can ensure that only the right person gets ac- Privacy advocates worry that facial recogni cess to sensitive information meant just for them. It tion systems are being misused. A database called can also be used for social good; there are nonprofits Brainwash was created by Stanford University using facial recognition to combat trafficking of mi- researchers in 2014. The researchers captured nors. However these systems also have limitations over 10,000 images using a camera located in San that can do harm as well. Francisco's Brainwash Cafe (now closed). It is un- Dozens of databases of people's faces are being clear whether the patrons knew their images were compiled by companies and researchers, with many being captured and used for research. The Stanford 432 Part Three Key System Applications for the Digital Age researchers shared Brainwash with Chinese aca- Facial recognition software is poor at identifying demics associated with the National University of African Americans and other ethnic minorities as Defense Technology and Megvii, an Al company well as women and young people. A 2012 study co- that provided surveillance technology for racial authored by the FBI reported that accuracy rates were profiling of China's Uighur Muslim population. lower for Afro-Americans than for other demograph Brainwash was removed from its original website in ics. Although the FBI claims that its facial recognition mid-2019. system can find the correct candidate in the top 50 Using eight cameras on campus to collect images, profiles 85 percent of the time, that's only when the Duke University researchers gathered more than 2 true candidate exists in its gallery. If the candidate is million video frames with images of over 2,700 peo- not in the gallery, the system may still come up with ple. The database, called Duke MTMC, was reported one or more potential matches, creating false positive to have been used to train Al systems in the United results. Those identified could then be targeted as States, Japan, China, and elsewhere. The cameras suspects for crimes they didn't commit. were identified with signs, which gave a phone num- Face recognition becomes less accurate as the num- ber or email for people to opt out. ber of people in the database increases. Many people Moreover, facial recognition systems are not around the world look alike. As the likelihood of simi- entirely accurate. Face recognition systems have lar faces goes up, matching accuracy goes down. varying ability to identify people under challenging conditions such as poor lighting, low-quality image Sources: "Face Recognition," www.eff.org accessed April 21, 2020; resolution, and suboptimal angle of view, which Kashmir Hill, "The Secretive Company that Might End Privacy as might occur if a photograph was taken from above We Know It," New York Times, January 18, 2020; Cate Metz, "Facial Recognition Tech Is Growing Stronger, Thanks to Your Face," New York looking down on an unknown person. Times, July 13, 2019, www.al.google.com, accessed April 21, 2020. CASE STUDY QUESTIONS 1. Explain the key technologies used in facial recog operations and decision making? What problems nition systems. can they help solve? 2. What are the benefits of using facial recognition 3. Identify and describe the disadvantages of using systems? How do they help organizations improve facial recognition systems and facial databases