The Potential Dangers of Facial Recognition
March 4, 2021
The Potential Dangers of Facial Recognition
Technology is constantly evolving and becoming more intelligent. Facial recognition is one feature that has widely become normalized all around the world.
You may not realize it, but your face has probably been documented on many systems. Facial recognition technology is used at airports, certain venues, and even on most smart devices. What's taken is a 'facial signature' where your face is documented and can be identified throughout many online systems.
Why do we use it? Well not only does facial recognition make everyday life easier, it's also helpful for law enforcement when identifying criminals globally.
What's the downside? Facial recognition is sometimes taken without consent and it also gets stored on online systems for long periods of time. Additionally, this type of technology is new and there is a lack of proper regulations and legislation surrounding the usage of facial recognition opening up the potential for mass public surveillance. This could be a serious privacy and security risk, especially if that data gets into the wrong hands.
Alongside that issue, technology can be wrong sometimes. There have been instances where facial recognition was wrong and people have been wrongly accused and convicted of crimes that they were not a part of. This is especially present around people of colour who have darker complexions and features which is harder for the technology to identify.
What Can You Do?
Facial recognition is everywhere these days which makes it extremely hard to avoid. What you can do is attempt to reduce the usage of facial recognition wherever possible. For non-essential instances, try to avoid using facial recognition to limit the amount of data being collected on you.
You never know what kind of security threat could appear in the future, so it's always safer to limit the amount of data you store online whether you're conscious about it or not.
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