In recent times, thanks to our massive computing power and technological advances, we have developed facial recognition technology. Facial recognition technology has become a part of our everyday lives, being used in things like social media, public surveillance, and even for unlocking our smartphones. Despite the efficiency and convenience offered by being able to match faces to a database, there are many ethical shortcomings that prevent it from being a truly beneficial technology. Because of issues of privacy and abuse involving the use of facial recognition technology, in my opinion, it does more harm than good for human society.
Because of the aforementioned issues, I do not approve of government and private company use of facial recognition technology. I see it as the moral responsibility of the entities in power, whether it be a government or a tech giant, to uphold the importance of human well-being above all. The article mentions how Facebook only just recently deleted its facial recognition data because of privacy issues. However, while it was in use for many years, the article discusses how despite Facebook being fully cognizant of the privacy issues, they did nothing to mitigate it. In addition, the article discusses the Chinese government’s use of facial recognition technology in Muslim ethnic minority communities. It is well known that China detains them in reeducation camps, so their use of facial recognition in these communities is highly unethical. Evidently, it is too easy for those in power to abuse facial recognition technology and not do anything about it. Therefore, I think it is necessary to discontinue facial recognition technology and search for more ethical alternatives.
Some may argue that facial recognition in surveillance can be beneficial for law enforcement, because it facilitates the detainment of known criminals. Although this does improve public safety, law enforcement use of facial recognition in video surveillance has been known to generate a swath of other problems. Notably, it has resulted in much outcry from civil liberty activists and even in some cases exacerbated racial inequality. Because of this, many governments in the US and Europe have banned the use of facial recognition technology in law enforcement. If a technology undermines liberty and equality, then it cannot overall be beneficial for humanity.
In order to mitigate the ethical shortcomings of facial recognition technology, I believe it is necessary for governments and companies to be held accountable for when they go too far with the technology. It has worked with Facebook because they ultimately deleted all the facial recognition data, so I think that if governments work harder to maintain morality and if the people act, we can make progress towards a more ethical human society despite all of the abuses possible with modern technology.