The Entrance of Face Recognition to Common Day Life
With the onset of usage in common day life like when we unlock our phones, during attendance at school, when punching in for a day at work or when boarding a plane, it is becoming apparate that the use of facial recognition revolutionizes life and global security one step at a time.
Security based on facial recognition tends to be less intrusive compared to all other conventional means. There are no id cards to carry around, no touchpads we need to touch or eye scanners we need to gaze into.
A camera powered by the right technology, kept at an appropriate distance, can easily identify us by our most recognizable feature: our Face.
Though all the recent news tends to highlight all the instances that Facial recognition fails, the right algorithm trained to attain high-level accuracy will ensure that the technology is a reliable security method.
For example, FaceX, a young start-up, has within 8 months of inception managed to attain an accuracy level of 94% and works at par and better than various giants in the facial recognition field.
Our Current security level and its shortcomings
In the current system, we have trained security personnel tracking 20 different camera screens each of which would be monitoring a large area that can contain more than 50 people. It is impossible to expect that they would be able to accurately identify and track suspicious people in time every time there is a security incident.
A recent news talks of how a suspicious individual who was prevented from entering a metro station by security personnel at one entrance, managed to escape capture and tried to enter from a second entrance before he was recognized again.
With the addition of facial recognition technology, all such individuals could immediately be flagged by security and the same information would be instantaneously shared across the security network ensuring a swift capture.
How facial recognition revolutionizes global security
As mentioned, facial recognition is a less intrusive medium as compared to the current norms. This proves to be both the advantage and the cause of concern for most people.
With the right algorithm in place, the facial recognition system can accurately identify and track all registered members by way of security cameras.
Facial recognition technology-based security systems ensure that a global network is maintained with synchronized information sharing.
Though San Francisco’s recent facial recognition ban brings to light just how wary people are of the technology.
The talk of facial recognition came to the foreground when legislators in the city voted to ban the use of the technology by local agencies such as the city’s transport authority or law enforcement. The main reason cited being an invasion of privacy.
Privacy and Facial Recognition
In today’s world of globalization, nearly all of us can be traced by a google search online. We leave an electronic trail each time we log into the internet, using social media, during web browsing and even with our google searching.
The actual line between ‘online presence’ and ‘breach of privacy’ tends to be a fine thin line that grows thinner year by year.
Though the concept that our information can be retrieved without our consent still tends to be a sour apple to swallow. Adding to that the idea that governments can monitor and track us continuously wherever we go tends to raise all sorts of alarms in our heads.
The need for Facial Recognition
But the flipside of the coin is the growing nature of terror in today’s world. The news tends to grow grimmer by the day. Humanity is a lost concept and a comprehensive global security system is the need of the hour.
Face recognition is an essential tool in global security measures. To be able to identify and track people of interest at global borders is a measure that will aid in ensuring that thousands of people are saved from the hands of terrorist activities.
But where do we draw the line?
Consent is a global concept. For all of our online activities, there is always a terms and conditions clause that we accept before using the service.
Though we tend to skim over reading each of the actual points, we agree and consent to the terms of use before registering for services.
In the same way, the use of facial recognition needs to be proceeding with terms of use clause that asks for consent before information is stored by the system.
But ensuring that the system exists at a global scale, and flagging individuals that cause security concerns will ensure that they are tagged and tracked in time to prevent major incidents from happening.
How it would work
Face recognition powered CCTV cameras integrated to security systems at places of concern like stations, airports, and international borders.
Alerts can be created whenever the system identifies people who match the faces in a database with photographs of known undesirables.
People, not on the list, who raise a cause for concern can also be flagged by security at the time of the incident and they can also be tracked down by the system.
The need of the hour
Artificial intelligence in entering multiple domains e.g insurance domain. The need of the hour is that the facial recognition algorithm is perfected to ensure a high level of accuracy.
A case of mistaken identity is not an acceptable mistake when it comes to a question of global security. Also with the vast scale at which security is required to combat terrorism, ensuring that it is a system that works even in low resolution and low light conditions become essential.
Even with respect to the San Francisco ban, supporters of the bill stated the technology as it stands today is unreliable and fails in detecting women and people across all races.
Face recognition system works at high accuracy even in conditions of low light and low-resolution images and works with no racial or gender bias in detection levels.
FaceX’s system works by converting the detected face into a 128 vector matrix against which all future faces are compared. The high number of vectors ensures there s no case of misidentification in recognition and face comparison.
