10
◼ AGENDA
● Facial-recognitiontechnologycanbeabused.Butit can
bea boon,anda prohibitionisn’tin thepublicinterest◼BLOOMBERGOPINIONWrittenbytheBloombergOpinioneditorialboard ILLUSTRATIONBYLARISSAHOFFSanFrancisco,longa vanguardofdigitalenlightenment,has
justmadea regressivemistake:It becamethefirstmajorcity
intheU.S.toprohibititspoliceforceandgovernmentagen-
ciesfromusingfacial-recognitiontechnology.Sucha banhas
anunderstandableappeal.Concernsaboutfacialrecogni-
tionarewidespreadamongthepublic.Injusta fewyears,
thetechnologyhasadvancedata startlingrate.Othercoun-
triesareusingit torepresstheircitizens,whileAmericans
areaccustomedtoanonymityinpublicspaces.Abuses—
accidentalandotherwise—arealltooeasytoenvision.
Simplybanningthetechnology,though,isthewrong
responsetotheseworries.Thefactis,properlyused,facial
recognitionis a boonforgovernmentsandcitizensalike.In
someplaces,it’sbeendeployedtoprotectbordersandother
vulnerablesites.Inothers,it’shelpingtofightsextraffick-
ingandfindmissingchildren.Policeusethetechnologyto
identifysuspects,trackdownfugitives,andspeedupinves-
tigations.Lastyearauthoritiesusedit toquicklyidentifythe
perpetratorina horrificmassshootinginMaryland.
Downtheroad,thepublicbenefitscouldbeevenmore
pronounced.Schoolsmayusesuchsoftwaretospotsex
offendersandotherthreats.It mightbeputintowidespreadTheWrongDigitalBan
useinairportstospeedboardingandsecurityprocedures.The
technologyhasgreatpotentialforimprovingpublichealth.
Evenso,it’snaturaltoworryaboutabuses.Buta Chinese-
stylepanopticonisn’tinthecardsintheU.S.TheFourth
Amendmentprotectscitizensagainstunreasonablegovern-
mentintrusions,andtheU.S.SupremeCourthasforcefully
appliedit todigitaltechnologiesinrecentyears.In 2018 the
courtruledthatthegovernmentmaynotaccesshistorical
mobilephonelocationdatawithouta warrant,forinstance.
Overlybroadusesoffacialrecognitionwouldundoubtedly
facesimilarchallenges.
Thequestionthenis whatrulesareneededtomaximize
thebenefitsofthistechnologywhileminimizingharm.One
concernis data.A facial-recognitiondatabasediffersinkind
fromoneoffingerprintsorDNA,becauseit’slikelytocontain
voluminousrecordsoninnocentpeople.Thatraisestheprob-
abilityofprivacyviolationsorothermisconduct.Accessto
suchdatashouldbelimitedtoclearlydefinedpurposesand
subjecttoregularaudits.Inmostcases,policeshouldusethe
technologyonlyfora targetedpurposeandnotforgeneral-
izedsurveillance.Real-timemonitoringofcameraorvideo
feedsshouldgenerallyrequirea courtorder.
A finalworryisdiscrimination.Insomestudies,facial-
recognition software has been shown to misidentify women
and ethnic minorities at disproportionate rates. Concerns have
eased somewhat as the technology has improved, but public
agencies must still be on guard for biases. A set of federal stan-
dards for testing and certifying such systems would help. <BW>GermanChancellorAngelaMerkelwillgivethe
commencementaddressatHarvardonMay30,making
a briefappearancein theU.S.ata timewhenrelations
betweenhergovernmentandPresidentTrumparestrained
bythetradewarwithChinaandtensionswithIran.▶June3 and4 willmark
the30thanniversaryofthe
Chinesegovernmentusing
militaryforcetocrush
theTiananmenSquare
protestsin Beijing.▶A EuropeanCentralBank
ratedecisionis dueon
June6. TheOECDwarned
thattradetensionshave
senttheglobaleconomyon
a low-growthtrack.▶TheU.S.reportsMay
employmentfigureson
June7. Expertswilllookfor
signsofeconomicgrowth
holdingup,withthejobless
rateata 49-yearlow.▶Centralbanksin sub-
SaharanAfrica’slargest
economieswillsetinterest
rates,withKenyaand
GhanaonMay 27 and
AngolaonMay30.▶YujingZhang’strialbegins
in FloridaonMay28 on
charges of illegally entering
President Trump’s Mar-a-
Lago resort with numerous
electronic devices.▶The International Air
Transport Association
holds its annual meeting in
Seoul on June 1-3, with the
grounding of Boeing’s 737
Max among the hot topics.▶ Merkel Goes Back to School
Bloomberg Businessweek May 27, 2019