{"id":6112,"date":"2019-02-15T22:45:36","date_gmt":"2019-02-16T02:45:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ncjolt.org\/?p=6112"},"modified":"2020-06-04T20:52:27","modified_gmt":"2020-06-04T20:52:27","slug":"i-knew-you-were-trouble-the-privacy-challenges-of-artificial-intelligence-and-facial-recognition-technology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/blogs\/i-knew-you-were-trouble-the-privacy-challenges-of-artificial-intelligence-and-facial-recognition-technology\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cI Knew You Were Trouble\u201d: The Privacy Challenges of Artificial Intelligence and Facial Recognition Technology"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In\n2019, a civilization without artificial intelligence (AI) seems unheard of. Self-driving cars<\/a>,\nsmart\nbots on Jeopardy!<\/em><\/a>, and automated\ndrones<\/a> are becoming integrated into the everyday lives of\nindividuals worldwide. In many ways, AI has blended into society almost\nseemingly, while other AI technologies have surprised and even shocked citizens\nand consumers.<\/p>\n\n\n

2018,\nfor example, marked a unique year for Taylor Swift on the AI-front. In July\n2018, CableTV.com<\/a>\ndeveloped algorithms to create a \u201cnew\u201d Taylor Swift-like song. Despite not\nbeing created by the artist herself, the song resembled the style, tone, and\nlyrics of a classic Swift song. While not perfect, the AI-developed song\nrepresented the potential future of the music industry and other artistic\nfields. With increased precision in these technologies, which undoubtedly will\noccur, numerous legal issues surrounding the mere creation of these works is\nuncertain.<\/p>\n\n\n

But\nTaylor-Swift-related AI did not stop there last year. Though AI may serve as a\nburden upon celebrities and artists attempting to protect their creative\nexpression, AI is also being sought after by celebrities for their protection.\nIn fact, in December 2018, a report\nsurfaced that Taylor Swift<\/a> herself employs AI facial recognition\ntechnology for security measures.<\/p>\n\n\n

At\none of Swift\u2019s concerts, a kiosk showing the singer\u2019s rehearsal clips drew fans\nin to look into a hidden facial recognition camera. The camera captured photos\nof the individuals who stopped by the kiosk and transferred them to a central\nsecurity operation. These photos were then cross-referenced with photos of\nknown Taylor Swift stalkers.<\/p>\n\n\n

Taylor\nSwift, however, is not the only one affected by the uncertainty of AI. Numerous\ncompanies, government entities, and individuals currently or will soon face challenges\nwith AI. In particular, issues within both privacy will have a substantial\nimpact upon the integration of AI into society. The issues surrounding these\nchallenges within AI technology are especially prevalent in facial recognition\nAI.<\/p>\n\n\n

While\nproviding some benefits, including increased safety measures, AI facial\nrecognition technology will inevitably be at odds with privacy protections. As\ndemonstrated in the Taylor Swift example, facial recognition technology\ncaptures a person\u2019s image, stores that image, and compares the image to any\nnumber of other stored images. <\/p>\n\n\n

There\nis no doubt that this technology could provide necessary security to\nindividuals and society. Through real-time recognition, people of interest\ncould be immediately identified\nin a crowd<\/a>. This could have beneficial domestic and international\nsecurity impacts. Similarly, economic benefits may be possible if such\ntechnology is used by shopping\nretailers<\/a> to identify the most popular items or regions in a store,\nenabling innovation within marketing personalization.<\/p>\n\n\n

These\npotential benefits, however, are offset by the immense risk to privacy. In July\n2018, Amazon\u2019s commercially-available facial recognition software was used to\ncompare photographs of members of Congress with those of arrestees. The\nalgorithm was only 95% inaccurate, misidentifying\n28 Congressional members<\/a> and concluding they had been among the\narrested. In response, Amazon noted that the technology should be used in\nconjunction with human\njudgment<\/a>. Amazon pressed the importance of its technology to humanitarian\ncauses<\/a> such as restricting human trafficking and helping to find\nlost children. Despite these potential benefits, the inaccuracies with AI\ntechnologies will be a continued issue for many applications. AI algorithms are\nonly as good as the data input into them.<\/p>\n\n\n

With facial recognition technologies, simple activities in an individual\u2019s everyday life, could be compromised. Pictures posted to Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram could become part of tracked databases. Eleven states have explicit general privacy considerations<\/a> in their state constitutions. Illinois and Texas<\/a> require the consent of an individual for facial recognition data to be captured, 19 states require encryption<\/a> of the data gained, and 20 states have enacted laws<\/a> to protect the biometric data of minors. The City of San Francisco<\/a> is considering a bill banning the governmental use of facial recognition software, the first of its kind in the United States. At the same time, AI facial recognition is protecting privacy through serving as a substitute for smartphone passwords<\/a> and verification for visitors to schools<\/a>. Facial recognition technologies ultimately present two conflicting realties: one in which privacy is protected and one in which privacy is usurped. With current AI technology and the lack of a regulatory protocol, a world with these conflicting outcomes may spell trouble for society\u2019s future.<\/p>\n\n\n

Ashle M. Page, 4 February 2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In 2019, a civilization without artificial intelligence (AI) seems unheard of. Self-driving cars, smart bots on Jeopardy!, and automated drones are becoming integrated into the everyday lives of individuals worldwide. In many ways, AI has blended into society almost seemingly, while other AI technologies have surprised and even shocked citizens and consumers. 2018, for example, …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6113,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[51],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6112"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6112"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6112\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6855,"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6112\/revisions\/6855"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6113"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}