# Is facial recognition set to explode as a security measure **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 30, 2017, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-facial-recognition-set-to-explode-as-a-security-measure/785599 "2017-04-30T20:37:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2017, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-facial-recognition-set-to-explode-as-a-security-measure/785599/21 "2017-05-02T19:04:24Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > Lots of incentive for businesses: > > - system identifies person as a good customer who spends a lot & notifies store; they send an employee to greet customer by name, mention their last purchase, ask how they can help, steer customer to high-priced items. > - system identifies person as someone who was caught shoplifting 2 years ago (maybe even at a different branch of the chain): store sends security to eject them from the store. > - system identifies person as a fussy customer who often complains about her meal and wants it to be comp’ed: waiter is notified to be extra careful to clarify what she is ordering. > - system identifies customer as one who frequently returns items after 1 use: store prompts cashier to notify customer & print on receipt “goods sold as is – no returns allowed”. > - system identifies customer as one who gives poor tips: manager is notified to seat customer at poorest table location. > - system identifies customer as they walk into car dealer as one with bad credit or past repo’s: salesman is notified to include additional markup in the price to cover higher risk to dealer. > > Note that almost all of these help the business; not so much for the customer. Well, they help the good customers. Respectively: - Customers who do lots of business gets better treatment. - Customers who don’t steal things get a better experience and lower costs. - Customers who legitimately have very specific food requirements get more attentive waiters and customers who aren’t trying to scam free meals get lower costs. - Customers who tip well get better tables. - Customers who don’t abuse the return policy can get a better return policy because it doesn’t have to account for the abusers. The last one’s going to happen anyway when they run the customer’s credit. So arguably this could be a bonus for the customer with good credit _and_ the customer with bad credit. They both get to waste less time filling out forms for a credit check. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2017, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-facial-recognition-set-to-explode-as-a-security-measure/785599/22 "2017-05-03T13:08:35Z")
I too was prepared to point out the silliness of some conspiracy theory that facial recognition systems were all wired with bombs… > [@chrisk](#): > > When I read the OP line, I immediately thought, “Well, what part of the hardware do you rig to explode, and how would it determine when to set off the detonator?” 😉 My thought was "So, what? You fail the recognition check and a shaped charge in the machine blows your head off? And you think this is _standard?"_ ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2020, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-facial-recognition-set-to-explode-as-a-security-measure/785599/23 "2020-02-11T19:26:22Z")
Sorry to revive this old topic, but it appears to be the most recent thread. The NYT’s “The Daily” podcast had a very interesting show about this yesterday: > **[The End of Privacy as We Know It? (Published 2020)](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/10/podcasts/the-daily/facial-recognition-surveillance.html)** > > An unregulated facial recognition app can probably tell the police your name, and help them find out where you live and who your friends are. If you aren’t into listening to podcasts, they also have a link to the transcript there. Spoiler alert: If you’ve used social media much, they can figure out who you are very quickly. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2020, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-facial-recognition-set-to-explode-as-a-security-measure/785599/24 "2020-02-11T20:04:18Z")
> [@wguy123](#): > > Sorry to revive this old topic, but it appears to be the most recent thread. The NYT’s “The Daily” podcast had a very interesting show about this yesterday: > > [https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/10/podcasts/the-daily/facial-recognition-surveillance.html](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/10/podcasts/the-daily/facial-recognition-surveillance.html) > > If you aren’t into listening to podcasts, they also have a link to the transcript there. > > Spoiler alert: If you’ve used social media much, they can figure out who you are very quickly. In NJ the attorney general has suspended the use of that app by law enforcement until there is a legal review by his office. Before that it was our prosecutors office had already put out that facial recognition software could not be used as probable cause but could be used to develop a suspect that needed to be verified by other means. I’m not a law-speak-guy but personally I don’t see a legal problem from a law enforcement point of view. It uses pictures and information that the individual is putting out in public. I don’t see how there is an expectation of privacy for pictures and information an individual voluntarily releases in public. I do understand there are some civil challenges because social media companies want to be paid for using their content even when it is available to the public for free. I’m not sure of the precedent there. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2020, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-facial-recognition-set-to-explode-as-a-security-measure/785599/25 "2020-02-11T20:11:05Z")
Another recent [New York Times article](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/06/business/facial-recognition-schools.html), about the use of facial recognition software in public school security. ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2020, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-facial-recognition-set-to-explode-as-a-security-measure/785599/26 "2020-02-11T23:05:36Z")
It used to be eyes’ iris patterns for solid ID - but which James Bond film had a black hat using a stolen eyeball? I can’t see mandatory chipping of humans - too insecure. Haven’t stolen high-value dogs been re-chipped? I don’t know if he originated this idea but an element of John Varley’s novel The Golden Globe has security ports at chokepoints like transport access taking a small flake of skin from a subject’s hand for instant DNA analysis and identification. Spycam facial ID is a hands-off approach and yes, any system can be skirted. Even an un-avoidable ID system can and will be hacked. Anyway, a perfect ID systems provides for total government control. I won’t visit China anytime soon but the US is going that way - so China will come to me. Yikes. Hope I’m dead by then. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2020, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-facial-recognition-set-to-explode-as-a-security-measure/785599/27 "2020-02-11T23:18:38Z")
How accurate is it really? I had to turn off facial recognition in my Facebook account because it so often mistakenly tagged my son as me. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2020, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-facial-recognition-set-to-explode-as-a-security-measure/785599/28 "2020-02-11T23:23:39Z")
local cops just pulled the plug on it [Raleigh police abruptly end use of controversial facial recognition tech](https://www.wral.com/raleigh-police-abruptly-end-use-of-controversial-facial-recognition-tech/18933545/) ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2020, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-facial-recognition-set-to-explode-as-a-security-measure/785599/29 "2020-02-12T02:35:28Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > How accurate is it really? I had to turn off facial recognition in my Facebook account because it so often mistakenly tagged my son as me. Often not that accurate. > **[Facial Recognition Software Wrongly Identifies 28 Lawmakers As Crime Suspects](https://www.npr.org/2018/07/26/632724239/facial-recognition-software-wrongly-identifies-28-lawmakers-as-crime-suspects)** > > The American Civil Liberties Union tested Amazon Rekognition, and found erroneous matches on images of politicians, especially among people of color. > **[When Bias Is Coded Into Our Technology](https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2020/02/08/770174171/when-bias-is-coded-into-our-technology)** > > Facial recognition systems from large tech companies often misidentify black women as male — including the likes of Michelle Obama and Serena Williams. A new documentary, "Coded Bias" unpacks why. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2020, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-facial-recognition-set-to-explode-as-a-security-measure/785599/30 "2020-02-12T19:28:01Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > I’m not a law-speak-guy but personally I don’t see a legal problem from a law enforcement point of view. It uses pictures and information that the individual is putting out in public. I don’t see how there is an expectation of privacy for pictures and information an individual voluntarily releases in public. The premise of consent crumbles when you use facial recognition software in public schools. [https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/06/business/facial-recognition-schools.html](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/06/business/facial-recognition-schools.html) ~Max ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2020, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-facial-recognition-set-to-explode-as-a-security-measure/785599/31 "2020-02-13T03:41:38Z")
I am even more with voice recognition. My bank recognizes my voice when I phone, even after a stroke affected my diction. Ad this is one of the ten biggest banks in the world, with 20-million account holders. My assmption is that it can’t identify positively from millions in a database, but if it has two pictures of an identity claimant, it can say That’s close enough. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2020, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-facial-recognition-set-to-explode-as-a-security-measure/785599/32 "2020-02-13T04:05:48Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > I am even more with voice recognition. My bank recognizes my voice when I phone, even after a stroke affected my diction. Ad this is one of the ten biggest banks in the world, with 20-million account holders. I’ve worked in computer systems at a large bank system (not in this area, but fellow workers did). I believe you are preliminarily identified by the phone you are calling from\*, then the voice recognition software just compares your voice on the phone to the recorded voice for your account, without having to search the voice records for 20-million account holders. Just verifying that the voice on the phone is a better than x% match to one of a few records is a much simpler (and more accurate) task. \*Most customers only call the bank from a few phone numbers (home landline, cell phone, spouse’s cell phone, etc.). These are stored with your account records. And the bank phone system uses caller id, so they can quickly find your account, as soon as they answer the call. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2020, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-facial-recognition-set-to-explode-as-a-security-measure/785599/33 "2020-02-13T04:36:32Z")
^^^^ I call using GooglePhone, from overseas, so they never get a repeat originating number. But the rest of your answer makes sense, and is as I suspected. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2020, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-facial-recognition-set-to-explode-as-a-security-measure/785599/34 "2020-02-13T04:55:15Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Why would any private business want to do that, affordable or not? Why would a business owner want to say ‘come into my store and risk getting arrested for something unrelated like an old parking ticket or back child support or bail jumping two years ago’? Furthermore, why would the business owner want to pay to drive away that business. Or even better (because these systems are horrible at recognizing black people and other people of color), “come into my store and risk getting arrested for something that _some other person_ was accused of sometime between 2 and 20 years ago! You’ll long for the days where we merely followed you around the store like a criminal!” ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2020, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-facial-recognition-set-to-explode-as-a-security-measure/785599/35 "2020-02-13T05:06:33Z")
Last month we had an employee meeting at my work, and they announced that, since the fingerprint system was maxed out(?), they would be going to facial recognition for clocking in and out at each shift. My face hasn’t been scanned yet. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-facial-recognition-set-to-explode-as-a-security-measure/785599.md?page=1)