There is a long list of movies and books that depict a dystopian future where surveillance runs rampant, and no one has any privacy anymore. The world isn't quite there yet. But in many ways, that's where it's headed thanks to developing new technologies.
Websites and services track people's every move online. Meanwhile, governments are funding spyware. And, of course, hackers are everywhere. Privacy-invading tools are sticking around and getting even more sophisticated. It bodes ill for pretty much everyone.
Facial-recognition technology is ramping up quite a bit too. It is concerning, to say the least. Members of parliament seem to agree with that assessment as more and more government bodies are voting in favor of privacy bills.
GDPR or CCPA doesn't focus on facial recognition all that much. But a new bill called the Washington Privacy Act is taking a crucial step in the right direction.
Why is Facial Recognition So Dangerous?
Facial recognition has seen a fast-growing adoption. It's especially evident among government agencies and in public-heavy spaces like airports, train stations, and shopping centers. To an extent, it isn't a problem since it is a valuable resource for public safety. But this technology also has the potential to be misused by both officials and those criminals they're trying to protect everyone from.
Facial recognition technology makes use of databases with people's faces. They can include things like drivers' licenses and identity card photos. It then takes those photos and compares them to videos and pictures taken in public places.
The reason why this technology is so dangerous is its massive potential for misuse. China is the best example of why this growing fear is a valid one. The Chinese government is already using facial recognition technology to arrest people for crimes like jaywalking. They've also set up a social credit score system to engineer the population's behavior.
It has sparked many debates about the morality of facial recognition use and privacy invasion. But there are also more covert ways that organizations can target people by using facial recognition.
What Does the Washington Privacy Act Say?
Government agencies have been slow to introduce new bills regarding digital privacy and security. But things have been progressing on some fronts. Laws have recently passed in many states, banning governments from using the technology. They also introduced The Body Camera Accountability Act. It touches on police misusing body cameras for surveillance.
That said, the Washington Privacy Act is the most comprehensive law on facial recognition to date. Among other things, this new act puts legislation in place that limits the extent to which one can exploit facial recognition. Other laws, like the CCPA and GDPR, barely touch facial recognition and even then only indirectly.
The Future of Privacy Forum provides a full breakdown of this act. But here's the gist of it as it relates to facial recognition:
The Washington Privacy Act takes a direct approach to address biometric facial recognition data.
The main takeaway is a GDPR-like consent requirement that forces companies to get individual consent before gathering facial recognition data.
Any company that collects facial recognition data also needs to put in place additional cybersecurity measures and go through third-party audits.
One especially problematic area that this bill helps combat is the inherent issues that are still plaguing facial recognition technology. It often misidentifies POC and women. The act doesn't improve on any misidentification issues. But it does empower those people to take control of the information that other parties gather about them.
Like the CCPA, this act gives individual persons the right to access and delete any data that companies collect. Moreover, the Washington Privacy Act also gives people the power to correct that data.
Summary
The Washington Privacy Act may not cover every aspect of the significant facial recognition problem. But it's a good start. Government regulations are a crucial step in the digital privacy ladder.
People should also take steps to protect their privacy, of course. A private browser and VPN (for example, this one), for example, can protect against online spying. Sometimes they can even save personal device cameras from being hacked. But VPNs and other tools can't help in public places. So government intervention is essential. It enables people to control their privacy and stay protected from exploitation.
And if anything else, the Washington Privacy Act is a good sign of even more comprehensive and far-reaching privacy-related legislation to come.
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