The ethical application of biometric facial recognition technology

Smith, Marcus; Miller, S.R.M.

doi:10.1007/s00146-021-01199-9

The ethical application of biometric facial recognition technology

Title

The ethical application of biometric facial recognition technology

Author

Smith, Marcus (Charles Sturt University)
Miller, S.R.M. (TU Delft Ethics & Philosophy of Technology; Charles Sturt University; University of Oxford)

Date

2021

Abstract

Biometric facial recognition is an artificial intelligence technology involving the automated comparison of facial features, used by law enforcement to identify unknown suspects from photographs and closed circuit television. Its capability is expanding rapidly in association with artificial intelligence and has great potential to solve crime. However, it also carries significant privacy and other ethical implications that require law and regulation. This article examines the rise of biometric facial recognition, current applications and legal developments, and conducts an ethical analysis of the issues that arise. Ethical principles are applied to mediate the potential conflicts in relation to this information technology that arise between security, on the one hand, and individual privacy and autonomy, and democratic accountability, on the other. These can be used to support appropriate law and regulation for the technology as it continues to develop.

Subject

Biometric facial recognition
Biometric technologies
Privacy
Security
Surveillance

To reference this document use:

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:875f4dee-7612-4428-bc2d-96d06a979e63

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-021-01199-9

ISSN

0951-5666

Source

AI&Society: the journal of human-centered systems and machine intelligence, 37 (1), 167-175

Part of collection

Institutional Repository