Experts Comments On European Commission Considers Temporary Facial Recognition Ban

In response to reports the European Commission is considering a temporary facial recognition ban in a new AI white paper, security experts commented below on this temporary ban if approved.

Experts Comments

January 20, 2020

James McQuiggan

Security Awareness Advocate

KnowBe4

Facial recognition partnered with AI can lead to issues where people are falsely identified and could potentially be wrongly imprisoned. Facial recognition needs to have strong regulations, especially related to accuracy. It's recommended that this commission hit the pause button so technology can be improved further, as it will be greatly utilized in the next several years. A lot of times, we see technology get ahead of itself, become problematic and not have enough security built in. IoT devices are a prime example of this. They are sold and later discovered to be easily hackable and used for ill intent. It's important that facial recognition programs are done properly from the start and protect an individual's privacy but at the same, use it for the benefits it is intended for and to identify the correct person with a high level of confidence. Read Less

January 20, 2020

Josh Bohls

Founder

Inkscreen

I don't see how this technology can be stopped, even temporarily. A business or government entity have long held the right to deploy video security cameras in their facilities. A customer walking into a store or train station is already being filmed without their consent (GPDR). A sign could be required stating "this facility is under video surveillance and you could be identified by facial recognition technology" so there might be notification, but not consent. I believe the only government intervention in this technology should be signage/notification, regulations on how the operators use the information, and regulations on processing/storage safeguards. It is far too late to attempt to stop it's general use. Read Less

January 21, 2020

Jake Moore

Cybersecurity Specialist

ESET

Until facial recognition has a perfect hit rate on profiling people within ethical boundaries, I do not think it should be used. There are not only various immoral usages of facial recognition but the false positives outweigh the benefits of such technology. Technology is adapting rapidly, but we need to move at the right pace and get it right first time before releasing it in the wild. When facial recognition goes wrong, it can go very wrong indeed and then people lose trust in it. We need to be protecting all of our data, but when you add imagery to the mix there is even more personal information up for grabs when a data breach occurs. Usually when Google decides to do something, other companies follow suit, so I think this could act as a catalyst in relation to the use of facial recognition. Read Less

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Experts Comments On European Commission Considers Temporary Facial Recognition Ban