They correctly name your friends in all your latest photos together. They enable you to access data on a computer or from your smartphone, at a simple glance through the camera lens. They can help you to speed up payments by identifying you at a simple glance. Facial recognition software have been permeating devices we use everyday for some time now, with functions ranging from the posting of photos on social media to more practical requirements, such as digital security and purchases.

How do they work? In how many ways can they change our life?

A more than clinical eye

Facial recognition systems exist thanks to artificial intelligence algorithms formulated to analyse and detect similarities and differences between faces immortalised on video footage and photographic images. Size and distance between eyes, nose characteristics, face shape and dental alignment are all taken into consideration. Not least in 3D, which offers enhanced precision individual recognition possibilities, by following chin lines, detecting how deep eyes are set, the degree of cheek bone protrusion and nose profile. The list goes on: it is also possible to hone in on skin texture as well as any possible defects to increasing degrees of accuracy, as footage resolution continues to improve and algorithms become increasingly sophisticated.

Somehow it’s as though they were analysing our digital foot print, at a distance. Without even having to touch us or, in most cases, even request our permission.

The case of China

These systems are also coming to life beyond our private devices. The threat of terrorism has undoubtedly meant increased pressure in favour of the development of services which guarantee citizens protection in high risk situations or at crowded locations such as stations, subways, stadiums, cinemas, trade fairs and large scale public events. In some cases, closed circuit video cameras, which are dotted throughout numerous cities and busy locations, have already been enriched with recognition mechanisms.

China in particular stands out as an example, on the cutting edge of surveillance programmes. A few months ago it even introduced a prototype visor fitted with a facial recognition system for use by a number of police teams. These special glasses capture the faces and movements of passers-by and insert them into databases ready for use in the future, for example in case of public order issues.

In particular, anyone on record and who should not be in a certain place, may be stopped in time. Within a few days after the launch of this initiative, a total of seven fugitives were recognised and approximately twenty cases of identity fraud were uncovered at the entrance to a railway station.

No more school massacres in the USA

Other early adopters of these technologies in the public sphere include a few American schools, which over the past few years have been struggling to cope with a continuous spree of tragic mass shootings. Overseers receive real time reports of intruders or any persons on record as violent or intimidating, suspended students, gang members, or anyone else on the “black list”. There is always a weapon involved and some software even captures and identifies it.

Currently the software, provided free of charge by the company which developed it, is active as a “pilot” in a few institutes in Seattle, but the project will soon expand.

Not only for identification, not only for public security

In addition to identifying people, some software is also capable of studying manners and facial expressions, gauging whether a person is upset, frightened, or simply tired.

Imagine a car sensor which could send a warning sign, before the driver experiences a sudden onset of sleepiness, or whenever they become excessively irritable behind the wheel. Or, imagine that teachers were able to gauge pupil attention levels during their lesson, just by monitoring expressions and gazes.

The second case is already a consolidated reality: a middle school in China has implemented this system, not without arousing numerous doubts.

A (very) open debate

Without a doubt, averting potential terrorist attacks is a noble mission, as is endeavouring to improve a school system by identifying methods which increase student attention levels. But where does the boundary lie between lawfulness and the invasion of a person’s privacy? Public use of facial recognition has generated a vast debate, inevitably involving companies and institutions which promote its use.

This is inevitable: our face has become an access key for managing our assets, our devices… but also the criteria for admission, or otherwise, to a place or, in extreme cases, a weight on the scales of justice which determines our freedom (or otherwise).

Are we sure that these systems are advanced and precise enough to be considered reliable? In which fields and up to what point can their application be considered ethical? The truth of the matter is that these technologies are immature in part, they present considerable error margins and the development of policies for their use (in all cases, but above all at a global level) can be best described as at an embryonic stage. Without a doubt, there is still a lot of work to be done.