Facial Recognition System

Facial recognition system ​. Breach of privacy. Vulnerability in recognition. Massive data storage.

Face recognition is a method of identifying or verifying the identity of an individual using their face. Face recognition systems can be used to identify people in photos, video, or in real-time. Law enforcement may also use mobile devices to identify people during police stops.​

Additionally, face recognition has been used to target people engaging in protected speech. In the near future, face recognition technology will likely become more ubiquitous. It may be used to track individuals’ movements out in the world like automated license plate readers track vehicles by plate numbers. Real-time face recognition is already being used in other countries and even at sporting events in the United States.​

Face recognition systems use computer algorithms to pick out specific, distinctive details about a person’s face. These details, such as distance between the eyes or shape of the chin, are then converted into a mathematical representation and compared to data on other faces collected in a face recognition database. The data about a particular face is often called a face template and is distinct from a photograph because it’s designed to only include certain details that can be used to distinguish one face from another.​