The essence of modern surveillance is to distinguish people to treat each one differently. Facial recognition technology is just a small part of a total surveillance system.
The author of the essay is Bruce Schneier, an American cryptographer, writer, and information security specialist. He is a member of the board of the International Association for Cryptologic Research and a member of the advisory board of the Electronic Privacy Information Center. The essay was published on January 20, 2020, on the author's blog and in the newspaper .
Concerned citizens' groups across the United States are beginning to ban facial recognition technologies. Last May, it was banned in , soon followed by neighboring , as well as and in Massachusetts (the ban may be extended ). In December, San Diego suspended its facial recognition program in anticipation of a new law coming into effect. Forty of the largest music festivals not to use this technology, and are calling for a national ban. Many Democratic presidential candidates on facial recognition.
These efforts are driven by good intentions, but a ban on facial recognition is the wrong response to the problem of modern surveillance. Focusing on one specific method of identification distracts from the nature of the surveillance society we are building, where pervasive mass surveillance becomes the norm. In countries like China, the government is creating a total surveillance infrastructure to control society. In countries like the United States, it is being created by corporations to influence consumer behavior, and is also used by the government.
In all cases, modern mass surveillance has three primary components:
- identification;
- correlation;
- discrimination.
Let's consider them one by one.
Facial recognition is a technology that can be used to identify individuals without their knowledge or consent. It relies on the prevalence of surveillance cameras, which are becoming more powerful and compact, and machine learning technology that can match recorded footage with images from databases of existing photos.
However, this is just one of many identification methods. People can be identified from a distance by or , using a laser system. The cameras are so good that they can read and from several meters away. And even without all these technologies, we can always be identified because our smartphones unique MAC addresses. We are identified by phone numbers, credit card numbers, and vehicle registrations. For example, China uses several identification methods for its total surveillance system. .
supplementing data In the United States, there is a vast—and almost entirely unregulated—industry of data brokers that trade our personal information. This is how large internet companies like Google and Facebook make money. It’s not just about identification. The main issue is that they can create deep profiles of individuals, collecting information about us and our interests and maximizing those profiles. That’s why many companies
purchase license plate data like Google acquired Fitbit. along with all its data.
The entire purpose of this process is for companies — and governments — to differentiate people and treat them differently. People are shown different ads online and offered various rates on credit cards. display different advertisements based on your profile. In the future, we may be automatically recognized upon entering a store just like we are when visiting a website.
It doesn't matter which technology is used for identifying people. The fact that there is currently no comprehensive database of heartbeats or walking patterns does not make data collection technologies any less effective. And in most cases, it doesn't matter if the ID is linked to a real name. What is important is that we can be consistently identified over a long period. We can be completely anonymous in a system that and tracks their online activities, but this does not interfere with similar correlation and discrimination processes. The same goes for faces. Our movements within a store or shopping mall can be tracked even without being tied to a specific name. And this anonymity is fragile: once we make a purchase using a credit card, suddenly our real names are attached to what was an anonymous tracking profile.
To regulate this system, all three stages of the surveillance process need to be taken into account. A ban on facial recognition is irrelevant if surveillance systems switch to identifying people using smartphone MAC addresses. The problem is that we are being identified without our knowledge or consent, and society requires rules on when this is permissible and when it is not.
Just like that, we need rules about how our data can be combined with other data, and then bought and sold without our knowledge or consent. The data broker industry is nearly unregulated; there is only one law — passed in Vermont in 2018 — that requires data brokers to register and provide a general explanation of what data they collect. Large online surveillance companies, like Facebook and Google, compile more detailed dossiers on us than the intelligence agencies of any police state in the 20th century had. Reasonable laws can help prevent the worst of their abuses.
Finally, we need clearer rules about when and how companies can engage in discrimination. Discrimination based on protected characteristics like race and gender is already illegal, but these rules are ineffective against modern surveillance and control technologies. When people can be identified and their data correlated with unprecedented speed and scale, we need new rules.
Today, facial recognition systems have taken the brunt of criticism, but by banning them, we miss the point. We need to have a serious conversation about all identification, correlation, and discrimination technologies. As a society, we must decide whether such spying by governments and corporations is acceptable — and how we want it to impact our lives.
Source: habr.com
