AND SUDDENLY...NOTHING IS THE SAME

Mounting autocratic tendencies are being enabled by technology. Is it too late to take action?

Facial recognition technology (FRT) continues to advance in precision and deployment. The ability of technology to detect and manipulate biometric data is alarming. 

An article in the New York Times, Barred From Grocery Stores by Facial Recognition caught my attention. In the UK FRT is used to block suspected shoplifters from grocery stores. Its deployment cost beats hiring security personnel to protect stores from shoplifters. 

The live component of FRT is useful for the quick identification, blocking and/or arrest of individuals.

The plunging costs of operating FRT, as little as $10/day, make it attractive to businesses as well as stalkers, public surveillance agencies, foreign agents, and criminal gangs. 

In London, people’s faces are added to a facial recognition program and its database and watch list, Facewatch. Any shop within miles of an alleged infraction can then bar individuals whose faces appear on the watchlist. In the US the technology is being used by Madison Square Garden (MSG) to deny access to lawyers representing plaintiffs litigating against MSG.

If a person is added to a shoplifting watchlist, accidentally or intentionally, the consequences are serious. An error can land a person on a watchlist and getting that data removed can be a costly legal nightmare.

These technologies are also being used to repress dissent in autocratic regimes such as China and Russia.

We have witnessed the expansion of autocratic measures by right wing state governments within the US. They move to ban books; attempt to control gender expression; and intrude into family matters and decisions such as birth control, abortion rights, transgender therapies, religious beliefs, and more.

There is great potential for human harm here. Facewatch is inside hundreds of stores in the UK and the watchlist is constantly growing. International technology firms are developing and using that technology as well.

The European Union has been on the forefront of initiatives to protect personal privacy.

How do we weigh the economic advantage of easily deployed FRT against its ability to be used as a dragnet by the powerful to identify and detain perceived undesirables and squash civil rights and our right to privacy? 

What is our government doing to protect us from foreign agents misusing FRT and chatbots?

Who will oversee compliance with FRT regulations?

How heavy should the consequences of landing on a database be on someone struggling to feed their children by lifting a pint of milk on a hunger-filled evening?

Why do we allow economics rather than human needs to rule the day?

How do we address this Orwellian conundrum?

Is it already too late?

What do you think?