As facial ID spreads, some worry about privacy

Lora Mekikian, vice president of finance and administration of facial ID development firm FaceFirst, said there are a lot of different applications for its systems.

"We find that that retail is a big market for us, but we also like our technology being implemented in all different interesting places, from businesses to event security to casinos to airports," she said.

Her company, headquartered in Encino, in Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley, says its goal is to create "a safer planet through facial-recognition technology." Its product is the facial recognition software, which customers can connect to their own database. For example, in retail stores, everyone who comes in would be viewed by a camera. Their images would be checked against the store's shoplifters' database. If there is a match, security would receive notification by phone.

Here are some of the industries that are using FaceFirst's facial-recognition systems:

Different applications of facial-recognition systems

Lora Mekikian explains how her company's products work in different industries.

Retail stores: Drugstore chain Rite Aid Corp. is using FaceFirst's product. Evelio Vasquez, who works at a Rite Aid location in downtown Los Angeles, said that the store catches up to 15 to 20 attempted shoplifters every day (there are many homeless people in downtown Los Angeles), some by physical recognition and some by the facial-recognition system.

Airports: In addition to being used for security — scanning crowds to match faces to databases of wanted criminals — facial recognition is also used in airports to help improve check-in speeds because passengers don't need to take out their picture IDs, and the speed of a computer's facial recognition is much faster than human beings'. According to CBS News, some airlines like Delta and JetBlue are testing facial recognition to help boarding.

Banks: The banking industry, where security is always a top priority, is wary when it comes to trying high technology, Caltech researcher Song said. However, even in this "most conservative" industry, many banks are working to adopt facial-recognition technology.

The digital payment screen on the Bank of America ATM in USC Village

Bank of America, Wells Fargo and City National Bank have already added facial log-in to their mobile apps on the iPhone X. Bank of America and Wells Fargo added a "digital wallet" to their ATMs. Claudia Morales, a relationship banker at Bank of America in the USC Village, said that the branch just added the digital wallet to its ATM four months ago. With a digital wallet, people don't need to carry their cards around. They only need to scan their phones.

Ben Wanless, a relationship banker at City National Bank in Encino, believes that biometric log-in, using touch or facial ID, will be on its ATMs in the near future. "It's easier. You don't need cards. People lose cards, but you can't lose your face or your fingerprint."

Clifford Aragon, a personal banker at Wells Fargo in Encino, said that once it can ensure the security of biometric log-in, the bank will start implementing it on its ATMs. The bank realizes that young people, in particular, want innovation, Aragon said.







The contactless reader on a Bank of America ATM at USC.

(Mouse over to enlarge the photo)





Interview of professor Forer in Studio A

Benny Forer is a veteran criminal prosecutor and lecturer on cyber and privacy law at USC's Viterbi School of Engineering. He gave his professional comments on the topic about the privacy concerns raised by facial recognition.
(If video does not display, click here.)

We have to know where's the misuse and correct that misuse as opposed to hypothesizing the misuse and saying that they shouldn't be able to collect that data.

While companies race to use the technology, the biggest concern with the development of facial recognition has to do with privacy. Devices that use the technology can monitor people. Is it ethical to apply this technology to our lives?

Benny Forer, a veteran criminal prosecutor and lecturer on cyber and privacy law at USC's Viterbi School of Engineering, said in order to answer this question, we need to examine it case by case.

"There's a difference between corporations collecting data and government collecting data. TSA is the government collecting data," he said, referring to the U.S. Transportation Security Administration. "TSA is interested in protecting society from whatever may occur when you're flying. So if it's more efficient, if it gives us greater security, then that's a good thing."

"Cambridge Analytica is corporations collecting," Forer said, referring to the political data firm that drew criticism for collecting the private information of tens of millions of Facebook users without their knowledge.

"So maybe the government can regulate how companies engage with potential customers and how they collect data. But it's also an individual's responsibility. Don't give up your data unless it's a necessity."

Forer said he believes that in California, there's a good balance between fighting crime and protecting privacy. "We have certain restrictions on the way we collect data and how and what things we can collect freely. Other states have less legislation. For example, in California, in order to search someone's phone, the government needs a warrant," Forer said.

"We have to know where's the misuse and correct that misuse as opposed to hypothesizing the misuse and saying that they shouldn't be able to collect that data," Forer said. "At the same time, we want to make sure that the government has access to data, because it is in the business of protecting citizens."

Facial recognition will only become more common.

Bart Kosko, a licensed California attorney and a professor of engineering and law in USC's Gould School of Law, says facial recognition will only become more common, but he also sees its limitations.

"Computational burden is the main limiting factor to the widespread application of such image-recognition algorithms because of the high pixel resolution of a still image," Kosko said. "We have good algorithms right now. It is just a matter of time until we have the widespread computing power to use them in regular practice."

"It surely is coming to smartphones. For instance, you might take a training image of your car and then later use your smartphone to search for your car in a large parking lot. If it works for a car, then it will work for a face at least to some degree."

But Kosko also believes that this new imaging capability will raise many new questions for governments and for everyone else concerning Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches and seizures.

Forer also expresses concern: "I do know that the privacy concerns are greater, though. If facial recognition becomes common, can companies track me in public just because I am walking down the street? Are we going to be exposed to mass surveillance simply by existing?"

"Obviously, these issues are going to need a legislative fix," he said. "Congress will have to come up with some regulations to ensure its society members are protected against unnecessary or needless intrusions."

Project:

Quiz

5. In 2012, Facebook turned off the facial-recognition-based photo-tagging service in which country?





Question 5: The correct answer is the Answer 3.

Explanation: In 2012, Facebook came under fire from privacy advocates and eventually turned off all facial recognition services in the EU, which automatically recognised and suggested the names of friends from photos that you uploaded to the social network. Source: Techcrunch.

6. How many states allow the FBI's facial-recognition unit to access their driver's license photos?





Question 6: The correct answer is the Answer 2.

Explanation: The FBI can request searches using facial-recognition technology on 18 state entities' collections of driver's license and passport photos, according to a report from the Government Accountability Office.

©2018 by Meijun Li