News

USA: We’re Banning Facial Recognition. We’re Missing the Point.

An opinion piece by security expert Bruce Schneier arguing that facial recognition bans are only looking at one small part of a big picture. The technology is one of myriad methods of identifying, correlating and discriminating against people without their knowledge or consent, says Schneier, and privacy advocates need to broaden their focus if they are to deal with the problem effectively.
An opinion piece by security expert Bruce Schneier arguing that facial recognition bans are only looking at one small part of a big picture. The technology is one of myriad methods of identifying, correlating and discriminating against people without their knowledge or consent, says Schneier, and privacy advocates need to broaden their focus if they are to deal with the problem effectively.

“… facial recognition bans are the wrong way to fight against modern surveillance. Focusing on one particular identification method misconstrues the nature of the surveillance society we’re in the process of building. Ubiquitous mass surveillance is increasingly the norm. In countries like China, a surveillance infrastructure is being built by the government for social control. In countries like the United States, it’s being built by corporations in order to influence our buying behavior, and is incidentally used by the government.

In all cases, modern mass surveillance has three broad components: identification, correlation and discrimination. Let’s take them in turn.”

We’re Banning Facial Recognition. We’re Missing the Point. (The New York Times, link) by Bruce Schneier