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Biometrics: Privacy versus Public Safety

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Featuring
Clare Garvie headshot
Clare Garvie

Fourth Amendment Center Training and Resource Counsel, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers

Nathan Wessler headshot
Nathan Wessler

Deputy Director, Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project, American Civil Liberties Union

Peter Pietra headshot
Peter Pietra

Privacy Officer, Transportation Security Administration

The explosion in the use of facial recognition and other biometric technologies by government and private-sector entities has sparked a national debate about such systems. Just over a year ago, a Pew Research Center survey of American attitudes toward artificial intelligence also asked how people felt about law enforcement use of facial recognition. Among those surveyed, 46 percent thought the use of facial recognition by law enforcement is a good idea, even though two-thirds of respondents said police “would be able to track everyone’s location at all times and that police would monitor Black and Hispanic neighborhoods much more often than other neighborhoods.”

How reliable is facial recognition? Can biases be unconsciously worked into the algorithms that make facial recognition possible? How many cases of mistaken identity have been attributed to facial recognition to date? How does the law at the federal, state, or local level impact the use of biometric technology? Is the technology advancing faster than the law and policy designed to govern its use? What is the state of the Transportation Security Administration’s facial recognition and biometrics programs for air travel? Can a person be forced to put their finger on their phone to open it for law enforcement officers absent a criminal predicate? Can private companies field facial recognition technology for the purpose of deciding who can or cannot buy a product or service, attend a concert, or even enter a building absent a safety concern? Our expert panel will tackle these and related questions.

This event is part of the 2023 Cato Surveillance Week series:

Session 1 • June 5, 2023

The Pernicious Surveillance Legacy of 9/11

Have officials in the executive branch and Congress learned anything from surveillance mistakes and overreaches?

Session 2 • June 6, 2023

Surveillance Reform Prospects

What do we actually know about the alleged effectiveness of the controversial FISA Section 702 electronic mass surveillance program?

Session 3 • June 7, 2023

Domestic Terrorism versus Constitutional Speech

Extreme political views and speech have been a feature of American political and social life virtually since the founding of the republic.

Session 4 • June 8, 2023

Biometrics: Privacy versus Public Safety

The explosion in the use of facial recognition and other biometric technologies by government and private‐​sector entities has sparked a national debate about such systems.