Facial recognition technology, commercial uses, privacy issues, and applicable federal law : report to the Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law, Committee on the Judiciary, U.S. Senate.
Imprint
[Washington, D.C.] : United States Government Accountability Office, 2015.
1 online resource (ii, 49 pages) : color illustration
text txt rdacontent
computer c rdamedia
online resource cr rdacarrier
Note
"July 2015."
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references.
Summary
Facial recognition technology, which can verify or identify an individual from a facial image, has rapidly improved in performance and now can surpass human performance in some cases. The Department of Commerce has convened stakeholders to review privacy issues related to commercial use of this technology, which GAO was also asked to examine. This report examines (1) uses of facial recognition technology, (2) privacy issues that have been raised, (3) proposed best practices and industry privacy policies, and (4) potentially applicable privacy protections under federal law. The scope of this report includes use of the technology in commercial settings but not by government agencies. GAO makes no recommendations in this report. However, GAO suggested in GAO-13-663 that Congress consider strengthening the consumer privacy framework to reflect changes in technology and the marketplace, and facial recognition technology is such a change. GAO maintains that the current privacy framework in commercial settings warrants reconsideration.
Note
Online resource, PDF version; title from cover (GAO web site, viewed Jan. 17, 2017).