Biometrics are used widely for security purposes. Either it is to secure an armed forces base or to unlock a smartphone. Face recognition, eye retina screening, fingerprint lock and voice recognition technologies are the favourites of industries when it comes to building a hard security system. The face recognition technology is exploring new ventures in the police department and immigration departments of countries.
The use of face recognition technology in the police and other crime control departments is increasing in the U.S and in other countries as well. The responses are mixed. If the majority of the population is happy about the police department using it then the regulatory authorities have their issues.
On the other hands the stance of people changes with the use case of this technology. For example, if an online business platform uses it to onboard customers to prevent fraud people feel comfortable about it, but on the other hand, if the FBI uses it to find the illegal immigrants the human rights groups raise their voice against it.
This shows that this technology has several unmapped use cases and it is more than a phone lock protocol. All types of organizations and industries are using face recognition for security purposes, fraud prevention and now the crime control departments have also highlighted the potential in this technology.
Also Read: How Facial Recognition Is Evolving With Artificial Intelligence
Face recognition technology used by the police department
The police department in the U.S is using facial recognition technology for surveillance and criminal investigation. The police department uses facial recognition technology for public surveillance in real-time. The activities of people in streets and crowded areas are recorded and complex artificial intelligence algorithms are used to investigate the crimes recorded in static public surveillance cameras by using facial recognition technology.
This technology traces the facial features leaving no benefit of the doubt for criminals. Because if a criminal uses lense or change his hair colour to manipulate the authorities he would be able to manipulate the facial recognition technology. Facial recognition technology uses 3D depth perception to detect liveness and detects and match the unique facial features of every person.
The police department faced criticism from some states and the usage of face recognition was banned as well. Although people are satisfied with this initiative, 56% of the American population trusts this technology.
The major criticism is that facial recognition technology will not be able to differentiate gender or detect the colour of a person. The police department cannot disclose its investigation secrets so, the use of facial recognition technology in the police department is that widespread as expected.
Also Read: How Modern Security Systems Enable Secure Check-Ins
Face recognition technology to find illegal immigrants
The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and FBI are using facial recognition technology to find illegal immigrants. Authorities are reported to be using the databases of the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to get the information of millions of U.S residents.
The authorities are using the data to find unregistered immigrants through the face recognition technology. Authorities stated that they are conducting this mass research due to the orders from the white house to identify and prosecute the unregistered immigrants.
This department also received criticism just like the police department. The human rights organizations are pledging that the authorities are using the data of several citizens without their consent and it is a privacy violation.
To wrap up, face recognition technology has a lot of potentials, and it is expected that in future this technology will be more common in common operations of several industries. The ease of use in this technology and its easy integration in different types of systems made it grab the global acclaim. The latest venture in this technology is its use in the police department and other government organizations. This new venture is receiving mixed responses but it is expected to gain the confidence of all the stakeholders in the near future.
