{"id":4671,"date":"2022-05-18T17:14:24","date_gmt":"2022-05-18T15:14:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eticasfoundation.org\/?p=4671"},"modified":"2022-05-20T09:01:11","modified_gmt":"2022-05-20T07:01:11","slug":"facial-recognition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dev.eticasfoundation.org\/es\/facial-recognition\/","title":{"rendered":"A deeper look into Facial Recognition"},"content":{"rendered":"

We humans are incredibly good at facial recognition: normally, we are able to tell whether we know someone by looking at their face <\/span>for less than half a second<\/span><\/a>, and we can recognise people\u2019s faces <\/span>even when we can\u2019t remember other details about that person<\/span><\/a>, like their name or their job. Scientists believe that\u2019s the case because, as highly social animals, we evolved the need to keep tabs on many different individuals, so that we could quickly identify who is a friend and who is a potential rival or enemy.<\/span><\/p>\n

As with many other things, machines and algorithmic systems can process images much faster than humans. Does that mean that algorithms are better than humans at identifying faces? The answer is complicated, because when it comes to facial recognition the issue is not that much speed but accuracy: the most advanced algorithms are as good as humans at identifying faces in clear pictures and other lab conditions, but <\/span>humans are better at identifying faces in real-life conditions and in bad quality images<\/span><\/a>. And as it happens with many other things, the current indications are that the best results are obtained <\/span>when humans and algorithms work together<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, the most problematic dimension of automated facial recognition is that, when algorithms get it wrong, they tend to get it systematically wrong according to some worrying but also by now usual patterns.<\/span><\/p>\n

AI and algorithmic systems are trained on existing data: in the case of facial recognition, an automated system <\/span>learns<\/span><\/i> to identify new images of faces by going through huge amounts of existing pictures of faces that have been already identified. And more often than not, existing datasets are biased and overrepresent white people, and in this case white men especially. And that means that facial recognition algorithms trained on such datasets become good at identifying the faces of white men, and <\/span>become systematically less good at identifying faces of people other than white men<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

While automated facial recognition may have quite a few different potential uses (both lawful and unlawful, and ethical and unethical), so far we find this kind of algorithms being used most prominently by police and other law enforcement agencies. That is the case with the five algorithmic systems currently listed in the <\/span>OASI Register<\/span><\/a> as having \u201c<\/span>identifying images of faces<\/span><\/a>\u201d as one of their aims.<\/span><\/p>\n

The most <\/span>veteran<\/span><\/i> of those algorithms in the Register is the <\/span>facial identification system used since 2010 by the New York Police Department<\/span><\/a>. Reportedly, the NYPD has normalised this algorithm as part of its operations, and uses it in routine investigations as well as in criminal ones.<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite the need for transparency when dealing with algorithms known to discriminate particular groups of people, <\/span>in 2018 the media reported<\/span><\/a> that the NYPD had been denying information for two years about how the police use this algorithm to researchers at the Georgetown Center for Privacy and Technology.<\/span><\/p>\n

Another entry in the Register, the <\/span>DataWorks Plus facial recognition software<\/span><\/a>, provides a concrete example (maybe the first of its kind) of what may happen when facial recognition technology doesn\u2019t work properly in the hands of the police: <\/span>a man got arrested for a crime he didn\u2019t commit<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

In January 2020, Robert Williams was arrested and handcuffed by the police just outside his home in a Detroit suburb, in front of his wife and two daughters. Williams was taken to the police station and interrogated as a suspect in a robbery because the DataWorks Plus facial recognition algorithm used by the Detroit Police had incorrectly matched his face with video footage of the robber, while to the human eye it was clear that the robber and Williams were two different people. Williams, who is black, was held in custody for 30 hours before finally being released on bond.<\/span><\/p>\n

But it\u2019s not only the police in the US who use facial recognition algorithms. The OASI Register also includes an entry about <\/span>SARI<\/span><\/a>, an automated image recognition system used by the Italian national police. While there\u2019s not much information about how exactly SARI might have been used, in April last year the Italian data protection authority issued <\/span>an opinion in which it alerted about its potential fallout<\/span><\/a>: \u201cAs well as lacking a legal basis to legitimise the automated processing of biometric data for facial recognition in security applications, the system as currently designed would enable mass\/blanket surveillance.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

A particular area when it seems police and law enforcement agencies are using more and more facial recognition is at the border. One such example in the OASI Register is <\/span>Simplified Arrival<\/span><\/a>, an algorithm used by the US Customs and Border Protection agency (CBP) since at least 2018.<\/span><\/p>\n

The CBP insists that the algorithm merely checks whether the picture taken of the person trying to enter the US matches their picture on their passport and on any other ID documents they might have submitted during the visa process. However, because of the discriminatory potential of facial recognition algorithms, even those defending its use, like <\/span>this report by the Atlantic Council think-tank<\/span><\/a>, called on the US Administration to address “(the) fear of a surveillance state”, “data protection standards” and “accuracy and bias issues”.<\/span><\/p>\n

While police and other security forces seem to be at the forefront of using facial recognition, such algorithms are also used by private commercial companies. That\u2019s the case of <\/span>Rekognition<\/span><\/a>, a facial recognition software developed by Amazon, which proved to err systematically when trying to identify people of colour, according at least two different studies in 2018 and 2019. Rekognition is used by police forces and also by very different kinds of companies in the private sector, from media companies to marketing agencies and online marketplaces, <\/span>according to a list maintained by Amazon<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Because of their potential for negative social impact, <\/span>algorithms should be explainable<\/span><\/a>, so that we all affected by their use can understand how the algorithms work, and so that we can hold those responsible to account. And <\/span>Eticas Foundation\u2019s OASI project<\/span><\/a> is an effort in that direction. On the OASI pages you can read more <\/span>about algorithms<\/span><\/a> and their <\/span>social impact<\/span><\/a>, and in <\/span>the Register <\/span><\/a>you can browse an ever-growing list of algorithms sorted by different kinds of categories. And if you know about an algorithmic system that\u2019s not in the Register and you think it should be added, <\/span>please let us know<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We humans are incredibly good at facial recognition: normally, we are able to tell whether we know someone by looking at their face for less than half a second, and we can recognise people\u2019s faces even when we can\u2019t remember other details about that person, like their name or their job. Scientists believe that\u2019s the […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":4672,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[19,33],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nA deeper look into Facial Recognition - Eticas Foundation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"We humans are incredibly good at facial recognition but, how do the algorithms perform when trying to be good at it?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dev.eticasfoundation.org\/es\/facial-recognition\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"es_ES\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A deeper look into Facial Recognition - Eticas Foundation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We humans are incredibly good at facial recognition but, how do the algorithms perform when trying to be good at it?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dev.eticasfoundation.org\/es\/facial-recognition\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Eticas Foundation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-05-18T15:14:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-05-20T07:01:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/dev.eticasfoundation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/OASI-facial-recognition-1024x768.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Nour Salih\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Escrito por\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Nour Salih\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Tiempo de lectura\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutos\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.eticasfoundation.org\/facial-recognition\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.eticasfoundation.org\/facial-recognition\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Nour Salih\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.eticasfoundation.org\/#\/schema\/person\/3b4e17941f5b7d8e5a7a633164309942\"},\"headline\":\"A deeper look into Facial Recognition\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-05-18T15:14:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-05-20T07:01:11+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.eticasfoundation.org\/facial-recognition\/\"},\"wordCount\":1066,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.eticasfoundation.org\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Algorithms\",\"Policing\"],\"inLanguage\":\"es\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/dev.eticasfoundation.org\/facial-recognition\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.eticasfoundation.org\/facial-recognition\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dev.eticasfoundation.org\/facial-recognition\/\",\"name\":\"A deeper look into Facial Recognition - Eticas Foundation\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.eticasfoundation.org\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2022-05-18T15:14:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-05-20T07:01:11+00:00\",\"description\":\"We humans are incredibly good at facial recognition but, how do the algorithms perform when trying to be good at it?\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.eticasfoundation.org\/facial-recognition\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"es\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/dev.eticasfoundation.org\/facial-recognition\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.eticasfoundation.org\/facial-recognition\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/dev.eticasfoundation.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"A deeper look into Facial Recognition\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.eticasfoundation.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dev.eticasfoundation.org\/\",\"name\":\"Eticas Foundation\",\"description\":\"Society \u00b7 Technology \u00b7 Responsibility\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.eticasfoundation.org\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/dev.eticasfoundation.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"es\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.eticasfoundation.org\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Eticas Foundation\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dev.eticasfoundation.org\/\",\"sameAs\":[],\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"es\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.eticasfoundation.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/eticasfoundation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/eticas-foundation-logo-grande.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/eticasfoundation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/eticas-foundation-logo-grande.png\",\"width\":750,\"height\":400,\"caption\":\"Eticas Foundation\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.eticasfoundation.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.eticasfoundation.org\/#\/schema\/person\/3b4e17941f5b7d8e5a7a633164309942\",\"name\":\"Nour Salih\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"es\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.eticasfoundation.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c09ca17aa5e384bf61e21ecd1b91b3c1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c09ca17aa5e384bf61e21ecd1b91b3c1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Nour Salih\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/dev.eticasfoundation.org\/es\/author\/nour\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A deeper look into Facial Recognition - Eticas Foundation","description":"We humans are incredibly good at facial recognition but, how do the algorithms perform when trying to be good at it?","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/dev.eticasfoundation.org\/es\/facial-recognition\/","og_locale":"es_ES","og_type":"article","og_title":"A deeper look into Facial Recognition - Eticas Foundation","og_description":"We humans are incredibly good at facial recognition but, how do the algorithms perform when trying to be good at it?","og_url":"https:\/\/dev.eticasfoundation.org\/es\/facial-recognition\/","og_site_name":"Eticas Foundation","article_published_time":"2022-05-18T15:14:24+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-05-20T07:01:11+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":768,"url":"https:\/\/dev.eticasfoundation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/OASI-facial-recognition-1024x768.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Nour Salih","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Escrito por":"Nour Salih","Tiempo de lectura":"5 minutos"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/dev.eticasfoundation.org\/facial-recognition\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dev.eticasfoundation.org\/facial-recognition\/"},"author":{"name":"Nour Salih","@id":"https:\/\/dev.eticasfoundation.org\/#\/schema\/person\/3b4e17941f5b7d8e5a7a633164309942"},"headline":"A deeper look into Facial Recognition","datePublished":"2022-05-18T15:14:24+00:00","dateModified":"2022-05-20T07:01:11+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/dev.eticasfoundation.org\/facial-recognition\/"},"wordCount":1066,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/dev.eticasfoundation.org\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Algorithms","Policing"],"inLanguage":"es","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/dev.eticasfoundation.org\/facial-recognition\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/dev.eticasfoundation.org\/facial-recognition\/","url":"https:\/\/dev.eticasfoundation.org\/facial-recognition\/","name":"A deeper look into Facial Recognition - Eticas Foundation","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dev.eticasfoundation.org\/#website"},"datePublished":"2022-05-18T15:14:24+00:00","dateModified":"2022-05-20T07:01:11+00:00","description":"We humans are incredibly good at facial recognition but, how do the algorithms perform when trying to be good at it?","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/dev.eticasfoundation.org\/facial-recognition\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"es","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/dev.eticasfoundation.org\/facial-recognition\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/dev.eticasfoundation.org\/facial-recognition\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/dev.eticasfoundation.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"A deeper look into Facial Recognition"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/dev.eticasfoundation.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/dev.eticasfoundation.org\/","name":"Eticas Foundation","description":"Society \u00b7 Technology \u00b7 Responsibility","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/dev.eticasfoundation.org\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/dev.eticasfoundation.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"es"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/dev.eticasfoundation.org\/#organization","name":"Eticas Foundation","url":"https:\/\/dev.eticasfoundation.org\/","sameAs":[],"logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"es","@id":"https:\/\/dev.eticasfoundation.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/eticasfoundation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/eticas-foundation-logo-grande.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/eticasfoundation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/eticas-foundation-logo-grande.png","width":750,"height":400,"caption":"Eticas Foundation"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dev.eticasfoundation.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/dev.eticasfoundation.org\/#\/schema\/person\/3b4e17941f5b7d8e5a7a633164309942","name":"Nour Salih","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"es","@id":"https:\/\/dev.eticasfoundation.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c09ca17aa5e384bf61e21ecd1b91b3c1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c09ca17aa5e384bf61e21ecd1b91b3c1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Nour Salih"},"url":"https:\/\/dev.eticasfoundation.org\/es\/author\/nour\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/dev.eticasfoundation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/OASI-facial-recognition.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.eticasfoundation.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4671"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.eticasfoundation.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.eticasfoundation.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.eticasfoundation.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.eticasfoundation.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4671"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dev.eticasfoundation.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4671\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4675,"href":"https:\/\/dev.eticasfoundation.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4671\/revisions\/4675"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.eticasfoundation.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4672"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.eticasfoundation.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4671"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.eticasfoundation.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4671"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.eticasfoundation.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4671"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}