Software
Federal agencies worried face masks will thwart facial recognition software
The US Homeland Security Ministry has internally raised concerns over face masks intended to prevent the spread of COVID-19, The Intercept reports. It also appears to be concerned about the use of face masks to evade law enforcement even after the end of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The May 22 bulletin, which was prepared in conjunction with other federal agencies, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement, discusses the potential impacts that widespread use of protective masks could have on security operations that incorporate face recognition systems — such as video cameras, image processing hardware and software, and image recognition algorithms — to monitor the public.
The Agency points out in the memo that protesters would use masks to prevent facial recognition programs from being detected, while recognizing that "there is no specific information that violent extremists or other criminals in the United States use protective face coverings to carry out attacks."
Recent guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that people wear face cloths in public. Such face covers "help prevent people who have COVID-19 from spreading the virus to others," says the CDC.
Meanwhile, cities and states across the US have begun to rein in the use of facial recognition technology by law enforcement agencies and other entities. Last month, Boston prohibited the use of technology in the city, following bans in Oakland and San Francisco prohibiting the use of technology by city agencies.
The U.S. Civil Liberties Union in Michigan filed an administrative complaint against the Detroit Police Department that a man who had been misidentified by facial recognition had been wrongly arrested in January.
A bill introduced by Democrats in the House late last month would prohibit the use of facial recognition technology until there is a law that explicitly allows it.
