Facial Recognition 24/7: Are You Being Watched Without Consent?
Globally, facial recognition technology is becoming so widespread that most people are scanned multiple times a day without even realizing it. From government surveillance to everyday consumer interactions, facial recognition technology is employed in public spaces, airports, shopping malls, and even online.
How Often and Where Face Scans Occur
Are you aware that your face might be scanned during your regular daily routine, out and about? This happens worldwide, for a variety of reasons.
Public Surveillance
In cities worldwide, facial recognition is increasingly used for public security. Countries like China lead in deploying such technology, scanning faces in real-time across thousands of cameras for surveillance, traffic control, and crime prevention. In China alone, millions of cameras are estimated to capture people’s faces up to several dozen times a day in urban areas.
Airports and Public Transit
Many international airports now use facial recognition for passport control, security checks, and boarding procedures. For travelers, this can mean being scanned multiple times during a single trip, and it’s estimated that around a billion people’s faces are scanned annually at airports globally.
Retail and Shopping Malls
Retailers in the U.S., Europe, and Asia have increasingly adopted facial recognition technology for security purposes and even for customer service. In high-traffic shopping centers, people might be scanned multiple times during a shopping visit, often without notification. The goal is both to prevent theft and to collect consumer insights.
Social Media and Online Platforms
Photos uploaded to platforms like Meta (Facebook) and Google Photos are often scanned to identify faces for tagging suggestions and to enhance machine learning models. Though users often consent by using these platforms, few are aware of the extent to which their facial data is being processed. Globally, this could amount to billions of scans each day given the volume of images uploaded daily.
Facebook had used scanning, then dropped it, but as of 2024 is investigating using it again to help locked out users.
Smart Devices
Devices with facial recognition for security—like smartphones, tablets, and home surveillance cameras—often conduct facial scans every time the user accesses them. While these scans are usually known to the user, they add to the total count of daily face scans, and sometimes, these devices capture data unintentionally.
Reasons Behind the Growth in Facial Recognition
- Security and Surveillance: Facial recognition helps governments and security forces quickly identify individuals, especially in high-risk or crowded areas, to prevent crime and monitor public safety.
- Convenience in Technology and Retail: For consumers, facial recognition adds convenience—whether it’s unlocking a device or using “contactless” entry methods. In retail, it allows businesses to gather insights on customer behavior and offer personalized experiences.
- Marketing and Data Collection: Companies gather data on individuals for targeted advertising, assessing customer demographics, or understanding consumer preferences. By tracking customers through facial recognition, they can tailor marketing approaches more effectively.
- Advancements in AI: Improvements in machine learning and AI have made facial recognition more accessible and accurate, leading to its integration across various industries and regions.
Can You Opt Out?
Yes, there are some ways to opt out of facial recognition, and certain places limit or ban its use. However, the availability of these options depends heavily on regional laws, specific locations, and companies’ policies.
Opting Out in Public and Commercial Spaces
- Requesting Non-Participation: In some stores or private venues, it may be possible to request exclusion from facial recognition systems, though this is rarely guaranteed. Some places may also allow individuals to register their faces in “opt-out” lists where available.
- Privacy Legislation: In regions with strong privacy laws, you have more options. The European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) allows citizens to request information on data collected about them, including facial data. While not a direct “opt-out,” it increases transparency, which can help individuals know where they’re being scanned.
- Disabling Social Media Tagging: Platforms like Facebook allow users to turn off facial recognition tagging, which prevents automated suggestions on photos. Google Photos also offers ways to manage how facial data is used, although they continue to scan images for internal machine learning purposes.
Places and Regions That Ban or Restrict Facial Recognition
- San Francisco, CA: In 2019, San Francisco became the first major U.S. city to ban government use of facial recognition, followed by other California cities like Oakland and Berkeley. This means local law enforcement and city agencies are restricted from using facial recognition in public areas.
- Portland, OR: Portland enacted one of the most comprehensive bans, which applies not only to government agencies but also to private businesses in public spaces. This law gives residents a unique level of control over where their faces can be scanned.
- Illinois: Illinois’s Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) regulates how private companies collect and use biometric data, including facial scans. It requires businesses to get explicit consent before collecting facial recognition data, giving residents an opportunity to refuse participation.
- European Union: Under GDPR, the EU has strict data privacy standards, requiring transparency and consent for data collection, including facial recognition. Certain EU nations also have additional regulations that limit how facial recognition can be used, especially in sensitive areas like schools or health facilities.
Opt-Outs on Personal Devices
- Disabling Facial Recognition on Phones: Users can disable facial recognition on personal devices, such as smartphones, where they are usually given the choice to opt for other security methods like PINs or fingerprints.
- Home Security Systems: If you have a smart home camera system with facial recognition, you may be able to disable this feature or adjust privacy settings to limit facial data collection.
Privacy Concerns and the Future
With faces being scanned globally at an unprecedented rate, privacy concerns are rising. Many people are unaware of just how frequently they’re scanned, and regulations often lag behind the rapid adoption of this technology. While countries like the European Union have strict privacy laws, the widespread deployment of facial recognition continues to grow, and faces are likely to be scanned even more frequently in the coming years as the technology becomes further embedded in daily life.
A Common Occurrence
Though there are growing efforts to regulate facial recognition, opting out remains challenging in many places. The adoption of comprehensive privacy laws is gaining momentum in countries worldwide, as people push for better transparency and control over their biometric data.
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