North Texas Police Pressure Use of Facial Recognition Grows with Privateness Issues – CBS Dallas / Fort Price

DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) – Face recognition has become mainstream.

The technology is used in airports and stores and has become a standard feature on newer smartphones.

However, as the use of the technology increases, so too do privacy concerns.

The CBS 11 News I team found that facial recognition is used by more than half a dozen law enforcement agencies in north Texas, in some cases with little public awareness.

Face Recognition Technology (CBS 11)

Local law enforcement agencies said they are using the technology as a tool to generate leads in cases that might otherwise go cold.

In November, Plano police used their facial recognition system to identify a suspected shoplifter who was caught on surveillance cameras from Neiman Marcus who had stolen high quality wallets.

Arlington Police used the technology in August 2018 to identify a wanted felon who was staying at a local motel.

While detectives point out the technology’s effectiveness in generating leads, law enforcement agencies also identify its shortcomings. Sometimes technology can cause a mismatch.

“It’s not perfect, but it works,” said Senior Detective Kevin Burkett, who heads the Irving Police Department’s facial recognition system.

Burkett said the technology helped his department solve dozen of crimes, from shoplifting to a recent murder.

But the Irving detective said there was a lot of misunderstanding about the technology.

When the departments in their system search from a photo or a still image from a video, the result is not a single match. Instead, it’s a list of the 200 closest matches, based on a series of complex algorithms that use thousands of viewpoints.

The 200 possible matches are rated and rated based on their similarity to the original image.

Det. Burkett said he would then personally look at every possible game before giving any clues to detectives.

“The limitation of the technology is mostly in your databases,” said Det. Burkett explained. “The more photos you have, the better the chance of finding the criminal who committed the crime.”

Brian New with Irving Police Officer KEvin Burkett (CBS 11)

The database used by the Irving Police Department consists of mug images taken from Irving Prison. The department would like to expand its database to include mug pictures from neighboring police stations that also use this technology.

While most local law enforcement agencies only use mug pictures, the Texas Department of Public Safety uses more than 24 million driver’s license photos in its face recognition database.

Privacy advocates say it means almost anyone in Texas can have the potential for a false match.

“A lot of people who believe they’ve never had contact with law enforcement or that law enforcement didn’t have their information are part of this flip book,” said Kali Cohn, a Dallas-based attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). .

Example Texas Driver’s License (CBS 11)

Texas law on how law enforcement agencies can use facial recognition technology is vague, and departmental guidelines vary widely.

Some, like the Irving Police Department, have detailed written policy that requires reasonable suspicion or consent before the technology can be used.

However, other local departments with the technology told the I-Team that there are currently no guidelines for its use.

Privacy advocates also worry about the accuracy of the technology.

“These algorithms and computer programs have been studied and we see that they are often unreliable, especially for people of color,” said Cohn.

Kali Cohn – ACLU (CBS 11)

Last year, the ACLU conducted a test on Amazon’s facial recognition technology, comparing images of members of Congress to a database of criminal mug shots.

The software incorrectly matched 28 members of Congress who had been arrested. The wrong matches were disproportionately high by colored people.

“If a system can’t identify colored faces as reliably as white faces, that’s a big problem,” said Cohn.

In response to the ACLU test, an Amazon spokesperson said the ACLU used an 80 percent confidence setting for its test when a higher setting should have been used.

Tech companies say recent advances in technology have improved accuracy, but privacy concerns remain as law enforcement use increases.