SHOULD FACIAL RECOGNITION TECHNOLOGY BE BANNED?

SHOULD FACIAL RECOGNITION TECHNOLOGY BE BANNED?

Most people would agree that we should provide every means possible to assist  police forces to fight crime. We are always faced with the challenge of “building a better mouse trap” as the mice become more skilled or devious. Petty and serious criminals have access to significant weapons and technology in trying to outsmart police forces and security agencies. It seemed to me like a step backward when the San Francisco city council recently banned the use of facial recognition technology by local agencies, such as the city’s transport authority and the San Francisco Police Department. 

From my extensive knowledge of crime fighting, learned from watching current police and detective dramas on TV and reading the crime procedural novels of Michael Connelly, I have observed facial recognition technology assisting with the resolution of many crimes. This technology uses the same kind of strategy as fingerprint recognition. Since all finger prints and all faces are unique, technicians identify a number of critical points on a finger print or face that make up a one-of-a-kind template. If an unidentified print or face is compared to a known template it “recognizes” the duplicate. A wonderful tool to assist in the identification of a specific individual. Why would the city of San Francisco ban its use by the SFPD?

Those in favour of the move said the technology as it exists today is unreliable, and represented an unnecessary infringement on people’s privacy and liberty. In particular, opponents argued the systems are error prone, particularly when dealing with women or people with darker skin. The American Civil Liberties Union claims that face surveillance technology is incompatible with a healthy democracy and violates our privacy. There doesn’t appear to be an equivalent group presenting data on the number of successful uses of face recognition in identifying criminals in the enforcement of law and order. The new rules will not apply to security measures at San Francisco’s airport or sea port, as they are run by federal, not local, agencies.

Over the years, our police departments have been provided with a number of new tools and technologies to help in their fight against crime. Police cruisers are equipped with computers that allow officers instant access to data bases to provide information at the scene of an altercation. Improved body armour and both dash cameras and body cameras allow for police interactions to be recorded live. DNA and fingerprint analysis provides scientific support in solving crimes. Police training is continually improving and the access to new and helpful technologies can only provide for safer communities everywhere. 

I can understand that facial recognition is not perfected yet, but it is a far better tool than relying simply on witness memory in identifying a possible suspect. No tool is perfect, but it is a helpful means of honing in on finding the actual perpetrator of a crime. I think it should be kept as one more tool, among many others, in the policeman’s toolbox and used where applicable. What do you think?