Facial Recognition

Friday, Apr 19, 2024 | Last Update : 04:39 AM IST

Before masks became ubiquitous as the coronavirus spread, Hong Kong had banned the use of masks among protestors, and privacy activists in London stepped out camouflaging their faces with makeup in geometric patterns to confuse facial recognition technology. (Photo | AFP)

Pandemic masks have an unintended effect on intrusive facial recognition software

Masked protestors at Black Lives Matter protests are tripping face recognition tech used by police, as error rates are as high as 50 pc.

28 Jul 2020 6:53 PM

In a statement praising the two-year ban, New York City-based Surveillance Technology Oversight Project said facial recognition is more error-prone for students of colour, “compounding the human bias they face every day.”

Facial recognition can't be allowed in schools, New York legislators impose two-year ban

Civil rights advocates had challenged an upstate district’s adoption of the technology as part of its security plans.

24 Jul 2020 7:36 PM

U.S. senators questioned Clearview, which offers facial recognition services to police, this year over privacy concerns and the possible sale of its services to authoritarian regimes while Facebook, YouTube and Twitter demanded it stop collecting their users’ images. (Photo | US Customs and Border Protection)

Facial recognition firm Clearview pulled up for harvesting Facebook, Instagram photos

Information Commissioners of UK and Australia are scrutinising the US startup on violations of user privacy.

09 Jul 2020 9:21 PM

A Black man who says he was unjustly arrested because facial recognition technology mistakenly identified him as a suspected shoplifter is calling for a public apology from Detroit police, and for the department to abandon its use of the controversial technology. Several cities, led by San Francisco last year, have banned the use of facial recognition. (Photo | bigbrotherwatch.org.uk)

Calls to abandon facial recognition use as wrongly identified Black man seeks Detroit police apology

The Detroit police has been challenged over face recognition flaws, bias, especially as it is prone to errors identifying people of colour.

24 Jun 2020 6:44 PM

$Facial recognition technology has a dark side, with it integrated into China’s massive public surveillance system and its social credit experiment where even minor infractions of public norms can result in sanctions.$

What's the deal with facial recognition software and how it's weaponised

Although firms like IBM have said it will no longer supply face scan software to police, several other players making the technology would.

18 Jun 2020 10:37 PM

Ongoing protests following the death of George Floyd have focused attention on racial injustice in the US and how police use technology to track people. In this picture, Mask-clad protesters gather for a demonstration in support of US protesters over the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died after a police officer kneeled on his neck for several minutes, and against police violence outside the US embassy in the Israeli Mediterranean coastal city of Tel Aviv on June 12, 2020. (Photo | AFP)

Microsoft, Amazon, IBM decision to stop face scan tech for police use may not have impact

Companies that dominate the market in the US are less well known, including the Tokyo-based NEC and European companies Idemia and Gemalto.

12 Jun 2020 4:26 PM

In this file photo taken on December 14, 2018, police officers put barricades during a protest at the Amazon fulfillment center in Shakopee, Minnesota. - Amazon on June 10, 2020, announced a one-year ban on letting police use its facial recognition technology, calling for strong government regulations for its ethical use. The moratorium comes after repeated calls by critics and racial justice groups for Amazon's cloud computing unit to stop providing police and immigration officials with tools that can be used to unfairly target people based on race. (Photo | AFP)

Amazon halts police use of its facial recognition tech for a year till rules are framed to prevent misuse

Two days ago, IBM announced that it would stop selling facial recognition tech for general purposes to prevent its use in racial profiling.

11 Jun 2020 6:40 PM

The century-old technology firm called for responsible national standards regarding how facial recognition systems should be used by police agencies. In this photo Black Lives Matter demonstrators march on June 7 in Santee, California. (Photo | AFP)

IBM opposes use of facial recognition for racial profiling, tips hat to #BlackLivesMatter movement

CEO Arvind Krishna says IBM no longer offers general purpose facial recognition software, won't condone use of any tech against human rights

09 Jun 2020 7:13 PM

In this February 12, 2018 photo, a US Customs and Border Protection officer assists a passenger with ticket scanning and taking biometric facial recognition photos prior to boarding a flight at Houston International Airport. (Photo | Flickr - Donna Burton)

Use of Facial recognition technology not a concern for a large number of Indians, says Survey

Over three-fourths of 1,000 people surveyed by cybersecurity firm Nortonlifelock supported the use of facial recognition for law enforcement

07 Apr 2020 6:43 PM

In this representative image, commuters walk through ticket gates equipped with facial recognition systems at a metro station in Moscow on January 27, 2020. (Photo | AFP)

Microsoft to stop funding facial recognition startups, divests from firm whose tech is used by Israeli military

As a minority investor, Microsoft does not have enough oversight to ensure that the startup’s tech is not used for mass surveillance

28 Mar 2020 2:27 PM

Photo shows a surveillance camera at a metro station in Moscow on January 27, 2020. A vast and contentious network of facial-recognition cameras keeping watch over Moscow is now being used in the effort to slow the rapid spread of coronavirus in Russia. (AFP)

Covid-19 crisis may leave us vulnerable to surveillance

Who is to stop governments from continuing to use surveillance technologies even after the pandemic is brought under control?

27 Mar 2020 6:16 PM

Technology can be used to outsmart criminals and prevent crime

How smart devices are outsmarting crooks

From Fitbit bands to smart watches, intelligent speakers to pacemakers, modern tech is helping cops to nab criminals like never before

13 Mar 2020 4:13 PM

The Parliamentary panel urged the civil aviation ministry to provide adequate funds to enable facial recognition technology to be used at sensitive airports

Introduce facial recognition tech at sensitive airports this year, Parliamentary panel tells aviation ministry

The technology could alert law enforcement to loan defaulters and other fugitives trying to flee the country

12 Mar 2020 7:19 PM

US senators are scrutinising a facial recognition software company over privacy concerns and the possible sale of its services to authoritarian regimes. New York-based startup Clearview AI has drawn attention following investigative reports about its practice of harvesting billions of photos from social media and other services to identify people. (Image | Pixabay - Teguhjati Pras)

Facial recognition used for rampant surveillance, say artists using cubist face paint to duck the system

A group holds monthly silent walks through various parts of London to raise awareness about the technology used for rampant surveillance

08 Mar 2020 3:44 PM

Real-time crowd surveillance by British police is among the more aggressive uses of facial recognition in wealthy democracies and raises questions about how the technology will enter people’s daily lives. (Photo: AP)

Police to use face scan tech, stokes privacy fears

The cameras will be put to work within a month in operational deployments of around 5-6 hours at potential crime hotspots.

27 Jan 2020 11:33 AM

The exhibition features a facial recognition system that visitors can opt out of, to draw attention to the inability to opt out in public (Photo: Representational/AP)

Exhibition in China reflects on loss of anonymity to recognition technology

It offers a rare public space for reflection on increasingly pervasive surveillance by tech companies and the government.

25 Dec 2019 4:35 PM

Customs and Border Protection officials say they originally considered including US citizens in the biometrics program. (Photo: AP)

DHS retreats on possible facial screening of US citizens

The department said Thursday that it has no plans to expand facial recognition to US citizens.

09 Dec 2019 8:33 AM

Microsoft said in a statement that Holder would lead a team from law firm Covington & Burling to conduct the probe.

Microsoft to probe work of Israeli facial recognition startup it funded

The probe reflects growing unease about facial recognition surveillance in the United States.

18 Nov 2019 7:48 AM

Costing a total of Rs 14 Crore, the entire project is expected to be implemented by next year according to Pune Airport’s director Ajay Kumar, which has been assigned to Japanese firm M/s NEC Technologies. (Photo: Metropolitan Police UK/Representational)

Like Hyderabad, & Bengaluru, facial recognition will also come to Pune Airport

Pune’s airport shall soon have facial recognition systems for entry, boarding, and security checks according to reports from the city.

19 Sep 2019 12:38 PM

The DIAL spokesperson said, "Participation in the trials is purely voluntary and at discretion of passengers. A suitable consent form will be signed by passengers. This trial will run for three months. Subsequent roll-out plans will be made". (Representational Image)

Facial recognition system trial to begin at Delhi airport's T3 terminal

After successful completion of the trial, the DIAL said facial recognition would be officially launched at Terminal 3.

07 Sep 2019 10:48 AM

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Mohan Guruswamy

facial recognition