'Perpetual police line-up' raises questions
That’s not far from the reality, as powerful facial recognition technology is identifying suspects -- but also raising legal and ethical questions, according to a report released today, The Perpetual Line-up, Unregulated Police Face Recognition in America, by the Center on Privacy & Technology at Georgetown Law.
“At least 26 states (and potentially as many as 30) allow law enforcement to run or request searches against their databases of driver’s license and ID photos,” the report found. “Roughly one in two American adults has their photos searched this way.”
Face recognition networks include more than 117 million American adults. The report recommends that Congress and state legislatures pass laws to regulate the technology's use. Here is the rundown:
Old territory/new territory: The FBI has other tools at its disposal. Lawmen use DNA and fingerprints to make cases, for example. But databases with that sort of information rely on criminal cases. This is different, according to the report: “By running face recognition searches against 16 states’ driver’s license photo databases, the FBI has built a biometric network that primarily includes law-abiding Americans. This is unprecedented and highly problematic.”
State-to-state difference: States use the technology differently, according to the report. For example, in Florida, police can search nearly 25 million mug shots in the FBI database and 22 million state driver’s license photos. FBI field offices can also search the state’s driver’s license photos. In North Carolina, the FBI can search 36 million driver’s license photos, but the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police report that they do not use face recognition.
A matter of fairness: State and local police departments are also using their own face-recognition systems, the report said: “We don’t know how they impact privacy and civil liberties. We don’t know how they address accuracy problems. And we don’t know how any of these systems—local, state, or federal—affect racial and ethnic minorities.”
A powerful technology: Facial recognition technology was reportedly used in apprehending a man suspected of setting off bombs in New York and New Jersey on Sept. 17. It is unclear whether facial recognition actually led lawmen to the suspect. Even so, the report asserts that regulating facial recognition will not interfere with law enforcement efforts to respond to threats. “Face recognition can and should be used to respond to serious crimes and public emergencies,” the report concludes. “It should not be used to scan the face of any person, at any time, for any crime.”
Read the complete report on the Georgetown Law website.
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