



Facial Recognition has been used by digital giants like Facebook, and the technology recognizes photos automatically.









Facial Recognition Technology does read the geometry of the face and biometrics. However, the problem is that facial recognition is not accurate 100% of the time.

In fact, in the case of women, children and ethnic minorities the accuracy is as low as 65%. That shows that technology is discriminative.

This may change over time as the artificial intelligence technology scans and discovers a more diverse variety of faces, at the moment it risks accuracy and racial discrimination.

In India, the National Crime Records Bureau has proposed that a centralized Automated Facial Recognition System be created. It claims that this will help the police keep a repository of data on suspects, captured, from among other sources, CCTV footage. Even more recently, Delhi and Hyderabad airports have launched face-recognition systems for granting entry.





Without permission, data is used and being stored, but there are consequences of it.

The Concerns due to Facial Recognition Technology

Facial Recognition violates the right to privacy.

Worldwide, there are laws to target facial recognition but India does not have any legal aspect challenging facial recognition.

Governments need to be aware of the laws regarding personal privacy in their jurisdictions.

But even considering FR works well, it is the turning of public spaces into policed zones of conduct that is worrying. It puts people under perpetual watch, resulting in possible moral and social policing.





The Facial Recognition will impact on democracy

The democracy stands on the pillars on the right to choose, and freedom to share the views. Such technologies like facial recognition collect and store a considerable amount of information, and cloud technology saves the data.

The information does not stay safe, and there remains a threat that the governments can spy on the citizens.





The Accuracy remains the Issue

The Facial data can be used to match with an image already available in Facebook.

The use of surveillance cameras could not find the person and track them down.

there is no guarantee that FR works accurately. In American cities such as San Francisco, the heart of technological developments, Somerville and Oakland, the government has banned the use of FR technology, due to its inaccuracies. There have also been reports that the misidentification of minorities was higher than in Caucasian communities.

What Facial Recognition (FR) technology essentially does is to “read” the geometry of your face and its biometrics: the distance between your eyes, between your forehead and chin, between your ears, that may not be enough.

This facial data can then be used to match with an image already available in the repository of the agency in question, in order to identify a person.





No legal framework for Facial Recognition

Countries do not have a legal framework to rely on, in case there is a misuse of our facial data.

There is no surveillance oversight by judiciary, nor is there a data protection authority which makes sure that facial information gathered is not put to use for other purposes.

Facial Recognition can be more discriminatory for women





In 2017, the Supreme Court, in a historic judgment, declared privacy to be a fundamental right. However, there is a clause that can be overridden in case of a reasonable public purpose — such as safety. Under the guise of women’s safety, women may be more policed in a paternal sense, where their liberties are restricted.





The Origin of Facial Recognition Technology

The Facial Recognition Technology was invented in the 1960s with the innovations of its founding father Woodrow Wilson Bledsoe. However, the technology reached on the peak since 2008.

The newest solutions, including those created at Iflexion , are able to detect faces in a crowd with amazing accuracy. Due to this, they are effectively used in criminal identifications and can help in establishing the identity of missing people.

However, such solutions also invoke a lot of criticism regarding the legality and ethics of their application.





The Potential for Facial Recognition Technology

The scope of Facial Recognition Technology remains very high as, since 2009, the technology has been used in catching criminals. In the United States alone there were 30 million surveillance cameras. The number has grown faster.

It will be a highly effective system for finding criminals.

Not only that missing people can also be found. The technology can be used for purchase in stores as your phone number works now. Even in advertising industries, technology can work for identifying the products that match with your face.









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Therefore, the use of Facial recognition technology remains inevitable, but there should be proper legal ways to tackle the crime related to facial recognition.

Infact, there should be an informaed decision of people while collecting the data about their facial gestures. However, the message should be communicated loudly.

Technology can face abuse in its implementation.

From an ethical perspective, everyone has the right to private life.



