Survey: Americans Warming to Use of Facial Recognition Tech
Survey: Americans Warming to Use of Facial Recognition Tech
By Frank KonkelJANUARY 7, 2019 04:58
PM ET
Americans do not favor strict limits on facial
recognition technology, according to a new national survey.
A growing number of Americans are OK with the
facial recognition technology, especially if it increases public safety,
according to a national survey released Monday.
Conducted on a national poll of 3,151 U.S.
adults in December, the survey found
only one in four Americans believe the federal government should strictly limit
the use of facial biometrics technology.
The survey also indicates Americans are more
likely to support any apparent tradeoff to their own privacy caused by facial
recognition technology if it benefits law enforcement, reduces shoplifting or
speeds up airport security lines.
Only 18 percent of those polled said they
agreed with strict limitations on facial recognition tech if it comes at the
expense of public safety, compared to 55 percent who disagreed with such
limitations.
“People are often suspicious of new
technologies, but in this case, they seem to have warmed up to facial
recognition technology quite quickly,” said Daniel Castro, director of the
Center for Data Innovation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research institute that
conducted the survey.
“Perhaps most importantly, Americans have made
it clear they do not want regulations that limit the use of facial recognition
if it comes at the cost of public safety,” Castro said.
The findings indicate a potential shift in
public thinking.
A September 2018
study by the Brookings Institution found half of Americans
favored limitations of the use of facial recognition by law enforcement, while
42 percent felt it invaded personal privacy rights.
Further, Americans appear more comfortable with
facial recognition as its accuracy improves. The Center for Data Innovation
survey found 59 percent of Americans agree with the use of facial recognition
technology if the software is right 100 percent of the time compared to 39
percent who agreed with the technology if it is right 80 percent of the time.
“The survey results suggest that one of the
most important ways for police to gain public support for using facial
recognition technology in their communities is to use the most accurate tools
available,” said Castro. “People are willing to get behind police use of facial
recognition technology as long as it is accurate and makes their communities
safer.”
Meanwhile, the federal government’s use of
facial recognition technologies has itself increased in recent months. In August, the
Washington Dulles International Airport became the first U.S. airport to catch
an alleged imposter with its new biometric cameras. U.S. Customs and Border
Protection has since apprehended 26 alleged imposters at
airports as of November and points of entry using the
technology.
The FBI, too, is using Amazon’s face-matching
tech—Rekognition—in counterterrorism
investigations.
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