Ethical Facial Recognition vs. Mass Surveillance

There are a lot of scary stories in the media about mass surveillance and how the police are using facial recognition technology. There is a lot of misinformation. What’s the difference between facial recognition and mass surveillance? In the media, the two terms are often used interchangeably, yet these are two very different things indeed.

Example 1: You’re shopping in a local big box store. Face recognition technology, combined with CCTV, is scanning the crowds and matching faces against a database of known or suspected shoplifters. You have no idea you are being photographed and you have no recourse if you are in the database incorrectly.

Scenario 2: You want to use the Fast Pass Lane at a local venue to skip the line and get to your seats early. When you buy your ticket, you take a selfie with your phone to associate your face to the ticket you have purchased. The only way to get into the database is to put yourself in it and you can delete your data if you wish. You get access to the Fast Pass Lane. You know when you are being photographed and you have complete visibility and control over your data in the database.

Blink Identity is an identification service that gives the user complete visibility to and control over their data. The only way to get into our database is to take a selfie and put yourself there. The Blink Identity Fast Entry Lanes at venues and other public places are well marked. Users know that the process is taking place, they collaborate with it, there is a direct personal benefit to them from it, and they are assured of privacy.

Facial Recognition:

• The sensors are clearly marked and visible

• The user knows when the identification is happening

• The user willingly participates in the identification

• The user has a personal benefit from the identification

• The user has control and visibility to their data

Mass Surveillance:

• The sensors are hidden

• The user doesn’t know the identification is taking place

• The user doesn’t participate with the identification

• The user receives no direct personal benefit from the identification

• The user has no control or visibility to their data

	Facial Recognition	Mass Surveillance
	Facial recognition uses a photograph of your face to replace barcodes, tickets, or other forms of access control.	Mass surveillance is used to monitor and track patterns of behavior of people without their knowledge or consent, usually by a government agency.
KNOWLEDGE	The sensors are clearly marked and visible, so the individual knows when the recognition is happening.	The sensors are hidden, and the individual never knows if or when they are being recognized.
CHOICE	The individual chooses to be recognized and participates in the process.	The individual has no choice or control over the process.
BENEFIT	The individual benefits personally from the process.	There is no personal benefit to the individual.
PRIVACY	The information is not shared, and the individual has control over their data.	The individual has no access or control over their data.