Using Facial Recognition Technology in the Warfare

Using Facial Recognition Technology in the Warfare

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Ukraine government is using facial recognition software to help identify the bodies of Russian soldiers killed in combat and track down their families to inform them of their deaths.  The move is not only to show humanity but also to spot Moscow’s lie that “no one was killed in the war”.  The technology used even help identify Russian spies and intelligence agents in the crowd and help reunite Ukrainian refugees and their families who do not have identification documents.

The free offer of the facial recognition technology solution from Clearview AI seems a righteous move, however the company — who claims itself with the largest facial recognition database in the world, — has faced a string of legal challenges.  To name some of them, Chicago federal court is hearing if Clearview AI’s solution violates the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act; Italy’s data protection agency announced a €20 million penalty to the company for breaches of EU GDPR; The UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has provisionally fined Clearview AI £17 million for breaching UK data protection laws last November; tech giants such as Facebook and Google have sent cease-and-desist letters to Clearview – to ask them to stop using pictures from the sites.

Several reports have also raised questions about the technology’s accuracy. Studies have shown that facial recognition software often fails to identify colored skin faces and can introduce biases. When used in the war for identifying the dead, the injured and expressionless faces can render facial recognition unusable.  If match incorrectly, the result may lead to casualties of innocent people.

Facial recognition technology has been used by law enforcement in many countries.  Clearview AI always emphasizes that its solution has help the law enforcement agencies investigate crimes, thus enhance public safety. However, Amnesty International initiated “Ban the Scan” campaign in 2021 for the fact that, the United States law enforcement has used the technology to intimidate or arrest people participated in the protests.

In this panel, experts in the fields are invited for discussing issues such as: can we ignore the controversy debate when facial recognition technology is applied in wartime?  What are the ethical issues in technology usage? Is it possible to use the facial recognition technology without privacy and other risks?

This event is co-organized with：

Time: 2022/6/21 02:00-04:00PM

Venue: IEAT International Conference Center Meeting 8F Room 2 (No. 350, Songjiang Road, Zhongshan District, Taipei City)

Moderator: Mr. JR Chen (Digital Transformation Association, President)

Panelists:

  • Prof. Hsin-Hsuan Lin (Chinese Culture University Department of Law, Professor)
  • Ms. Kuan-Ju Chou (Taiwan Association for Human Rights, officer)
  • Prof. Jane Yung-Jen Hsu (National Taiwan University Department of Computer Science & Information Engineering, Professor)
  • Dr. Jau Huang (CyberLink Corp., Chairman and CEO)