Facial recognition technology raises ethical dilemmas and privacy concerns. Is it okay for our phones, computers and social media applications not only recognize us, but also collect and store data about our faces? These concerns grow as technology becomes more accurate and more government agencies, private companies, and advertising agencies use it to track us.
However, it turns out that these sophisticated facial recognition algorithms can be foiled using a simple mask. Yes, the same tool as helps prevent the spread of deadly diseases You can also keep your identity hidden in the quasi-surveillance status in which now we live.
According to A recent study by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), wearing a mask increases “above [facial recognition] the algorithm failure rate is about 5%, while many competent algorithms failed 20% to 50% of the time. “The effect depends on the color of the mask and how much it covers your face; the masks Black ones covering the nose and entire mouth were the most effective at confusing software, according to NIST results.
NIST specifically tested “one-to-one” correspondence, where a face is compared to a single photo (such as a passport or driver’s license). The software measures the distance between different facial features to find a match. As a result, it is more difficult for the software to make those measurements if a mask hides half of its face.
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One-to-one is more accurate than the “one-to-many” method, where the software scan a crowd of people then cross-reference the faces with a database of facial feature information. It would not be outrageous to assume, then, that masks can break one-to-many algorithms more reliably than one-to-one algorithms.
The technology will continue to develop and we may reach a point where masks no longer confuse facial recognition software. NIST even plans to test new algorithms created to recognize masked faces later this year. If it’s successful, we might have to try that eyeball trick that Tom Cruise uses in Minority Report.
However, for now, wearing a mask will keep you safe, either from a pandemic-level viral outbreak or from Skynet’s eyes.
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