Facial recognition tech: risks, regulations and future startup opportunities in the EU
Summary
The collection and use of biometric information used for facial recognition and identification in public spaces carries specific risks for fundamental rights. In fact, the European Commission (EC) has warned that remote biometric identification is the most intrusive form of facial recognition and it is in principle prohibited in Europe. Using a risk-based approach the EC has considered the use of AI for remote biometric identification and other intrusive surveillance technologies to be high-risk, since it could compromise fundamental rights such as human dignity, non-discrimination and privacy protection. Artificial intelligence entails great benefits but also several potential risks, such as opaque decision-making, gender-based or other kinds of discrimination, intrusion in our private lives or being used for criminal purposes. Facial recognition is already been used quite successfully in several areas, among them: • Health: Where thanks to face analysis is already possible to track patience use of mediation more accurately; • Market and retail: Where facial recognition promises the most, as ‘knowing your customer’ is a hot topic, this means placing cameras in retail outlets to analyze the shopper behavior and improve the customer experience, subject of course to the corresponding privacy checks; and, • Security and law enforcement: That is, to find missing children, identify and track criminals or accelerate investigations.