Open Letter

Dear Mr. Morse,

I am writing to you to discuss your article published on the mashable website in August of this year concerning facial recognition technology. You raise a lot of interesting points within your article. You are correct in stating that facial technology is a slippery slope. It is still a widely undeveloped field in the private sector, and possibly could pose potential threats to the modern American consumer.

I completely agree also with your point that while this technology seems exciting and new, there is still a lot about it that we do not know. We have all seen the movies such as Iron Man where facial recognition technology is something that seems to be an everyday occurrence. Yes, this is Hollywood fiction, however the idea as we all know is still used today.

The military and government agencies most definitely use this technology and have been for some time now. However, just like you point out, they have the ultimate privacy. We as average citizens of this nation cannot request to see or access the cameras and private tapes within these government organizations. That is why I totally understand why you are so concerned with our privacy and facial recognition technology.

I remember when webcams on computers became standard parts to laptops and certain desktops. Many people were concerned with the fact that hackers could infiltrate their computers and access their webcams remotely. This breach of privacy was seen as a major lapse in technology companies plans when making these new computers. People would actually put small sections of sticky notes onto their webcams to try and prevent people from seeing them regardless of whether or not they are being hacked. And now, with facial recognition technology being introduced into the world of smartphones, this problem will still likely occur. Now, I don’t believe that people will place pieces of sticky notes onto their front phone cameras, but they will inevitably find a way to try and stop this from happening.

You mention how the camera on the new iPhone X will apparently have the camera on the entire time, regardless of whether or not you are using the phone actively or not. This presents a problem definitely. There is no real reason why this would need to be enabled at all. Especially if the data collected can be hacked by some external person or persons. Also, why would these companies want the information and facial maps of our individual faces? There is always a numerical passcode used in case someone the owner of the device trusts needs to use the device or if the facial recognition does not work on the third or fourth attempt. If these companies like Apple keep a massive amount of data concerning our biometric data, why would we even give it to them in the first place? Many people are starting to shift to utilizing their fingerprints as a form of authentication when making purchases, and, if this trend continues, it is not hard to believe that facial recognition will also become a valid form of doing this same task. Even in the commercial for the iPhone X, they advertise that you can use just a look to pay for things. So, if people can access your phone with just a picture of your face, it is not hard to assume that they could also make purchases off of your phone with this same photograph.

You also mention a lot of other concerns with the biometrics of facial recognition which are quite interesting. For example, as mentioned before, the general fact that you can unlock someone else’s phone with a photograph of their own face pulled from any form of social media or the internet. You would think that with this new technology that something like a two-dimensional picture would not be able to unlock it. And, while the iPhone X offers three-dimensional mapping rather than two-dimensional like the Samsung Galaxy 8, if it seems to work for the Samsung phone, one can only infer that it would also work on the iPhone X.

Going back to the hackers, now, even if the iPhone X uses infrared facial mapping and scanning technology to capture your face and make it ‘more secure’, if the hackers access the data for our faces then there is nothing we can do once they have this data. The average person cannot just change their face at the drop of a hat. Plastic surgery may be a possible solution to this problem, but who has the money readily available to have this procedure done, and just so they can use their phone securely. People can burn off their fingertips or have them removed by a surgeon with lasers, but you cannot change the physical make-up of your face without some serious pain or money.

Finally, you mention how facial recognition will depend on what the phone considers a face to be. It is interesting that what we consider facial recognition technology to be is already outdated. I believe that we all have a romanticized idea of how facial recognition technology works. And while this man that you quote says that there will be a multi-step approach to facial recognition technology when accessing the phone, I believe that none of these processes will actually make the phones more secure. The iPhone X does not even have a home button, making the possibility of using a fingerprint irrelevant.

Now, while I agree with all of your points and arguments, I do not believe that facial recognition technology is all bad. I can see a purpose for it, and, if these companies such as Apple put more valid fail safes into these phones that use facial recognition technology, this technology could be a very useful tool in the world of smartphones. So, yes you are correct in your fears, however I believe that there are many ways not only to make this technology safe but effective and useful.