The technology is used for purposes including criminal investigations, security operations and traveler verification. Image: CBP - Donna Burton
Facial recognition technology used by federal law enforcement agencies has “the potential for error and thus the potential to misidentify individuals” yet training for employees using it is lacking, the GAO said at a hearing of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.
The testimony was largely based on a report GAO issued last fall saying all seven Justice Department and DHS components it reviewed that have used such technology initially did so without requiring staff take training on topics such as how facial recognition technology works, what photos are appropriate to use, and how to interpret results.
Such training is important because “civil rights advocates have cautioned that an over-reliance on facial recognition technology in criminal investigations could lead to the arrest and prosecution of innocent people, particularly those of certain ages and racial and ethnic backgrounds. Additionally, civil liberties advocates have noted that the use of facial recognition at certain events—such as protests—could have a chilling effect on individuals’ exercise of their First Amendment rights,” the witness said.
The technology is used for purposes including criminal investigations, security operations and traveler verification, the witness, said but it is difficult to determine how much it is use because agencies vary in how they track the number of searches conducted by agency staff. “Additionally, in some instances agencies were unable to provide information on the number of facial recognition searches staff conducted because neither the agency nor the services tracked the information,” she said.
As of the GAO’s review last year, “three of the seven agencies (CBP, HSI, and FBI) addressed some of the privacy requirements, which helped them identify privacy risks and develop related mitigation strategies. However, we also found several instances where these agencies did not address privacy requirements. The remaining four agencies (ATF, DEA, the U.S. Marshals Service, and the Secret Service) did not fully address any of the privacy requirements,” she said.
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