Your online photos could help improve facial recognition technology, whether you want it or not.
This week consumer group CHOICE reported,that retail giants Kmart, Bunnings and The Good Guys are using facial recognition technology to collect consumer biometric data in some stores. Bunnings said it used it to identify people who had previously been involved in incidents and could pose a risk. The other two networks declined to comment.
Are we handing over our data ourselves, or is it forcibly taken from us?
As part of its research, CHOICE asked more than 1,000 people what they thought of the technology. 65% said it was disturbing, and some called it creepy.
This point of view is understandable.But, on the other hand, people themselves decide to post images of themselves and their faces in the public domain, for example, on social networks. And there's a connection: Posting selfies on social media, using streaming services, and using a loyalty card all convey more personal information than a facial recognition device.
In 2021, Meta* announced that it had stoppeduse technology similar to this, but this does not mean that your photos are not collected by other companies that create searchable databases of faces.
*Meta, including its Facebook and Instagram products, has been designated an extremist organization in Russia.
This may be news to many people and may even be a reason to delete their accounts.
Why do algorithms need our photos?
“Algorithms interpret these photographs anduse the results of the work to better identify the person who is captured in the picture,” said Dennis Desmond, a cyberattack expert at Sunshine Coast University.
It doesn’t matter whether the photos are high quality or low.
“Bad or blurry images are also useful in training the algorithm, since images from surveillance cameras are not always clear and of high quality,” he said.
Desmond noted that many people today do not understand what they get if they give up a certain level of privacy.
Why giving up privacy isn't always a bad thing?
In Osaka, Japan, some train stations are using facial recognition technology. It allows passengers to simply pass through the turnstiles without having to take out a ticket.
Law enforcement throughout Australiaapply this technology to stop serious crimes, as well as to prevent identity theft. If people knew more about these benefits, Desmond thinks, they might have a different attitude.
But people's opinion of this technology, which was invented in the 1960s in the US, probably won't change until there's more transparency.
On the Internet, people can limit the amount of data they can use,which they communicate, for example by changing their cookie settings. But it is impossible to turn off facial recognition unless you use makeup or other disguise.
Today in Russia there are no special laws,governing how data obtained through facial recognition technology can be used. Today, such biometric personal data includes information that characterizes the physiological and biological characteristics of a person (clause 1, article 11 of Law No. 152-FZ). It is important to note that on the basis of such information it is possible to establish the identity of the subject of personal data: for this purpose they are processed by the operator.
Sarah Moulds, Senior Lecturer in Law atUniversity of South Australia doesn't think facial recognition is a bad thing. But she says three critical elements need to be clarified: the individual's consent, the quality of the data and whether the information can be shared with third parties.
How different technologies learn more about us
For many people, it doesn't really matter if their faces are examined and scanned.
But the situation becomes more complicated if this biometric information is combined with other data, such as a person's financial situation or medical records.
Experts say that from this combination of datayou can draw a conclusion about how much you earn, what is your level of education and what do you do on weekends. It can also help companies decide whether to give you credit, insurance, work, and so on.
But the reality is that this data can already be obtained by studying all of a person’s online activity over the past few years.
Therefore, Desmond said that we need to start to seriously control this area, for example, start with facial recognition technology.
“I think it is necessary to strengthen the stateregulation and control of technologies that are used in the commercial sector. Especially when they affect the privacy and rights of individuals,” he said.
This is necessary, because, in his opinion, today neither the government nor the private sector can protect personal data in a quality manner.
Read more:
Scientists uncover how vitamins affect the incidence of cancer
The space probe flew 200 km from Mercury. Look what he saw
The satellite of Jupiter was looked at in a new light: what scientists saw there