Forget Data Privacy, Facial Recognition Might Be A Bigger Security Threat In Future

It's been around for a long time but face recognition tech didn't really capture the public's imagination till Apple launched FaceID on the new iPhone X. On the face of it, it all seems rather simple - in a nutshell, your phone decides if it's really you by scanning your face in 3D. But the current-gen tech (from Apple, Microsoft, and other tech giants) is anything but simple - it's taken us decades to get to this point, and it's vastly better than what we had till a few years ago. At the same time, there's a lot more here at stake, than ease of use, for all you people who are too indolent to enter PINs and passwords - face recognition tech (and its cousin - gait analysis) can have serious privacy implications. The Tech Behind Facial Recognition © Pinterest The most famous example, of course, is the iPhone X. Its bezel-less display and slim profile meant Apple didn't have enough space to put in a fingerprint sensor. And of course, as smartphone buyers tend to fall into the 'quick, show us something shiny before we fall out of love with your brand' school of consumerism, Apple introduced FaceID. And credit to Apple, FaceID does seem impressive - a fancy depth-sensing camera makes this happen, pretty much seamlessly, in Apple's own words, by 'projecting and analysing over 30,000 invisible dots to create a depth map of your face and also captures an infrared image of your face'. According to Apple, FaceID is more secure than TouchID, with the probability a random person could unlock your new iPhone going down to 1 in 100,000, from 1 in 50,000. Then there's Microsoft Hello, which also uses depth and infrared sensing tech (usually Intel RealSense) to scan your face (depending on your device, fingerprint and iris scanning might be other options). And we're sure you've come across Facebook and Google Photos' auto-tagging features that do a pretty good (and scary, if you're a privacy freak) job of identifying people in photos. Facial Recognition Still Isn't Perfect © Pinterest Of course, there are bugs - previous-gen facial recognition tech had trouble differentiating between people and their photos (a problem mostly solved by using depth sensing and infrared cameras). Then there was the uncomfortable issue of race - minorities and non-white people have often reported loads of issues - from misidentification to being 'invisible'. And these issues haven't gone away completely. Many users in China have complained that Apple's FaceID is often being unable to tell the difference between family members, other tests have shown it won't really protect you against your twin (better hope your twin's not too evil), while Vietnamese security company Bkav has demonstrated it's even possible to fool Apple's tech using a homemade mask. Of course, no tech's perfect and facial recognition tech will only get better with every generation, but it's something you need to be aware of if you use it to secure your phone or laptop - nothing's still as secure as a proper password or even a PIN! Big Brother Loves Facial Recognition © Pinterest It's an old trope, but it's true - the trade-off for ease of use is usually a lack of security, or lowered privacy. But as facial recognition tech improves, it'll get more secure, and at the same time, it could really become a privacy headache. In fact, law enforcement agencies the world over have long been using facial recognition to track suspects. In the US, local and federal law enforcement have been utilising facial recognition to identify suspects, while in China, even people accused of minor crimes have been tracked using this tech. In Russia, it's been used to identify people at protests, and a year or so ago, a developer even launched a controversial app that could cross-check people in your photos against social networking profiles. Meanwhile, researchers are also moving ahead with gait recognition, which uses the way we walk as a unique identifier. This might seem rather far-fetched, but while even a minimal disguise can fool a facial recognition system, we can't really change the way we walk - and certainly not for extended periods of time! While you might say that law enforcement or government usage of facial recognition isn't much of a concern as you'd never break the law, keep these facts in mind - a future authoritarian government might not be too concerned with the niceties of law; and what happens if there's a data breach? © Pinterest Many citizens, tech gurus, and privacy activists have raised concerns of how undemocratic regimes, stalkers, and criminals could take advantage of facial recognition tech. But the real threat could be far more subtle and insidious than an evil dictator's minions chasing you! It's the commercialisation of this tech that could be a greater headache. Imagine a future where facial recognition is commonplace, with retailers tracking your face and even analysing emotions to see what you feel about their products, and adjusting prices accordingly; Or a stadium not allowing you inside as you've been identified as a very vocal fan; Or perhaps someone launches an app that lets anyone track what you've been doing by analysing public images or even those from poorly secured CCTV cameras? Just like with any other technology that's become affordable enough to become commonplace, we'll see the bad come along with the good. And with AI and machine learning becoming more powerful with each passing day, we can also expect to see new uses of facial recognition tech that we wouldn't have imagined!