The world isn't what it used to be anymore.
Depending on your interpretation, the above statement can either be a really good thing, or a very terrible thing indeed.
Technological advancements have continued to evolve along an exponential pace throughout the history of civilization, and there is no indication that this trend will stop anytime soon. #Technology makes it possible for us to do things our ancestors never would have dreamed, and criminal investigations have received many helpful upgrades along the way. DNA analysis was widely criticized when it was first introduced in court back in 1986. It is very common for people to be wary of any radical changes in the way we function as a society.
#FacialRecognition Technology, or FRT, is another huge advancement that can help police investigate crimes by assisting them with identifying victims as well as #criminals. Thorn is a nonprofit group that has identified more than 17,000 vicitims of child trafficking using FRT. This a perfect example of the positive impact this technology is capable of producing. Thorn identifies an average of 9 child victims per day, and this information helps police find them and return them to their families.
One of the biggest changes brought about by technology is how effectively it opens us up to the world. In this day and age, there is almost nothing that you cannot do from the comfort of your home. You can arrange your finances, attend school or work, and even have an appointment with your medical provider, all with a few clicks of a button or installing an app on your phone. The concept of privacy has been altogether redefined.
Running a reverse image search online is all you need to do in order to see the potential benefits of this technology; this very tactic can be used to identify people who are using others' photos for online dating scams, employment scams, and several other types of criminal activity. The very thought that such things were possible would have seemed absurd in the previous century, and yet, here we find ourselves today.
As rapid and fast-paced advancements in the works of technology continue to impact our world for good, it is of course important that we use critical thinking skills to make sure we are using it correctly. FRT is no exception to this rule. Police departments should use it in a highly regulated manner, acknowledging the fact that it is capable of making errors. Isn't this already how we deal with eyewitness testimonies, which are notoriously unreliable but still admissible in a court of law? Consider the case of Maurice Hastings, who was freed from prison in October of 2022 after serving 38 years based on eyewitness testimony.
Of course, there's a very thin line between using facial recognition software to improve fighting crime and infringing on the privacy of others. In an effort to catch just one criminal, a lot of people may have their faces scanned and recorded without their permission or even their knowledge to start with. This is already happening, though, and there is nothing we can do to stop it at this point. Every grocery store has security cameras nowadays, and they are becoming increasingly more common as time goes on. Remember those socks you bought at Wal-Mart last month? Rest assured that they have a video of you making that purchase.
FRT played an instrumental role in the case of a terrorist who was apprehended in New York in 2019, thankfully before he could complete his plans. Police still had to do the investigative work and find probably cause to arrest the offender, and people in the court system had to decide how the case would be handled. It isn't like computers are going to start ordering arrests without any human interaction.
The use of facial recognition technology does carry some risk of incorrect identification. But rather than ban it altogether, Boston should have taken efforts to ensure that its use was in line with protecting the #safety and privacy of the people. There is no telling what incidents could have been prevented, what lives could have been saved, if the program had been left operational.
