San Francisco first US city to BAN facial recognition tech built to spy on citizens
SAN FRANCISCO has banned the use of facial recognition to spy on citizens, becoming the first US city to do so.
The landmark decision means city departments – including the local police – won’t be able to use the highly controversial technology that can instantly identify people based on images.
Human rights experts have hailed the decision as “democratic”.
The vote was passed by San Francisco lawmakers by 8 to 1, with two absentees.
It’s expected to pass into law next week, and come into force next month.
“With this vote, San Francisco has declared that face surveillance technology is incompatible with a healthy democracy and that residents deserve a voice in decisions about high-tech surveillance,” said Matt Cagle, a technology and civil liberties attorney at Northern California’s ACLU.
“We applaud the city for listening to the community, and leading the way forward with this crucial legislation,” he added.
Facial recognition is a booming area of technology research.
The ability for advanced computer systems to identify a person based on their face can revolutionise security – and consumer tech.
Apple notably added facial recognition to the iPhone in 2017 with its Face ID system.
The iPhone can scan your face to verify your identify, unlocking the gadget if you pass the test.
How does Apple's FaceID tech work?
Apple's facial recognition system for the iPhone X isn't massively complicated. Here are the steps your phone takes:
- The phone will use various sensors to work out how much light it needs to illuminate your face.
- It then floods your face with infrared light, which is outside the visible spectrum of light.
- A dot projector will produce more than 30,000 dots of this invisible light, creating a 3D map of your face.
- An infrared camera will then capture images of this dot pattern.
- Once your phone has all that info, it can use your face’s defining features – like your cheekbone shape, or the distance between your eyes – to verify your identity.
- It computes a score between 0 and 1, and the closer it is to 1, the more likely it is that your face is the same as the one stored on your iPhone.
- Apple says there’s a one-in-a-million chance of someone else getting into your iPhone with Face ID, although the system has been tricked with twins.
- Still, it’s arguably better than the alternative: Apple’s Touch ID fingerprint scanner has a one-in-50,000 chance if being fooled.
But concerns have been growing over the risks of mass-spying using facial recognition – potentially giving the state too much control.
“We all support good policing but none of us want to live in a police state,” said San Francisco Supervisor Aaron Peskin, who introduced the bill earlier this year, speaking to CNN Business.
San Francisco’s new law forbids the use of facial recognition technology by all 53 of the city’s departments.
This includes the San Francisco Police Department, which doesn’t currently use the technology – but did trial it between 2013 and 2017.
The bill does have some exceptions: for instance, businesses and residents can still use facial recognition technology.
This means citizens could set up facial recognition security systems – which are already widely available, including from San Francisco-based Google – on their property.
There’s also an exception for federally-controlled facilities, including the San Francisco International Airport and the Port of San Francisco.
The issue is controversial in the UK too, where London’s Met Police has been trialling the technology across the capital.
“If police push ahead with facial recognition surveillance, members of the public could be tracked across Britain’s colossal CCTV networks,” said Silkie Carlo, of Big Brother Watch.
“For a nation that opposed ID cards and rejected the national DNA database, the notion of live facial recognition turning citizens into walking ID cards is chilling.
“This China-style mass surveillance tool is the very antithesis of British democratic freedom and police using it on our streets sets a dangerous example to countries around the world.
“It would be disastrous for policing and the future of civil liberties and we urge police to drop it for good.”
MOST READ IN TECH
Find out how Apple’s facial recognition works on your iPhone and iPad.
Chinese police have been caught using smart sunglasses with facial recognition to spot criminals in crowds.
And China has even been publicly shaming jaywalkers using facial recognition – and then sending them instant fines over text.
Do you think the UK should ban facial recognition? Let us know in the comments!
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