The privacy implications of such a system cannot be overlooked

Sep 10, 2012 14:23 GMT  ·  By

Remember the CSI movies in which investigators used the “zoom in and clear image” line when analyzing videos and pictures? In many cases it seemed farfetched, but as it turns out, it may become a reality sooner than we think.

The FBI is getting ready to roll out face recognition technology in which it has invested around $1 billion (800 million EUR). Iris scans, DNA analysis, voice identification and, of course, face recognition technology are all included in the project, NewScientist reports.

US authorities want to have the ability not only to identify someone based on a picture, but they also want to be capable of tracking a suspect in a crowd.

The facial recognition tests made so far have been successful in 92% of cases, but that shouldn't surprise anyone, considering that the system creates a 3D model of a face which it can rotate until it finds a positive match.

The only problem emerges when the lighting is poor. Images taken with infrared cameras are a viable solution, but for the time being such equipment is still fairly expensive.

A few states have already begun uploading photos and others will probably follow soon, a nationwide implementation being expected by 2014.

On the other hand, privacy advocates are concerned about the implications of such a system. They fear that innocent individuals may suffer just because they show up next to a suspect.

For now, only the mug shots of known criminals have been added to the system, but once the technology is fully implemented this may change and the pictures of civilians might also be added.

It’s clear that such technology is highly welcomed by law enforcement agencies because in many situations it can make their job a whole lot easier. However, as with most other next-generation technologies, there are privacy implications that simply cannot be overlooked.