11/9 Essay: Read this November 2nd article on a change in use of facial recognition technology by Meta (formerly Facebook) (hat tip to Arthur). What are your general thoughts on government and private company utilization of technologies that are able to recognize a face and/or match a human face from a digital image or a video frame against a database of faces? What advantages or benefits could/do such technologies provide? What role (if any) should a government play in regulating their use by individuals or companies? You have until 10:05.

When it comes to the benefits of the technology of facial recognition, it in some ways is more convenient because it can replace passwords and fingerprints, saving people’s time. I am also benefited from the face recognition system greatly when using iPhone. However, while face recognition system is used in public areas like social networks, lots of safety problems appear. In order to connect with others, people usually provide their names, locations and other personal information using the face recognition system. However, it also expose their personal privacy under great threats. As an access of one’s personal privacy, facial information is not as safe as passwords and fingerprints because there are lots of similar faces and can be confused if the system is not well developed enough. Therefore, lots of crimes about the theft of facial information and misunderstandings caused by similar faces will appear. I think it is necessary to temporarily shut down this function until privacy safety problems can be avoided. Safety is always more important than convenience.