A facial recognition system is a technology capable of matching a human face from a digital image or a video frame against a database of faces, typically employed to authenticate users through ID verification services, works by pinpointing and measuring facial features from a given imageSome time ago I have written a post on Linear Discriminant Analysis, a statistical method often used for dimensionality reduction and classification. It was invented by the great statistician Sir R. A. Fisher [1], who successfully used it for classifying flowers in his 1936 paper The use of multiple measurements in taxonomic problems (The famous Iris Data Set is still available at the UCI Machine Learning Repository.). But why do we need another dimensionality reduction method.

Facial recognition work

• Weaknesses
  Ralph Gross, a researcher at the Carnegie Mellon Robotics Institute in 2008, describes one obstacle related to the viewing angle of the face: "Face recognition has been getting pretty good at full frontal faces and 20 degrees off, but as soon as you go towards profile, there've b.
• Ineffectiveness
  Critics of the technology complain that the London Borough of Newham scheme has, as of 2004, never recognized a single criminal, despite several criminals in the system's database living in the [2] Borough and the system has been running for several years figure1 shown below.

Figure1: Facial Recognition System.

Examples of facial recognition technology

• Amazon previously promoted its cloud-based face recognition service named Rekognition to law enforcement agencies. However, in a June 2020 blog post, the company announced it was planning a one-year moratorium on the use of its technology by police. The rationale for this was to allow time for US federal laws to be initiated, to protect human rights and civil liberties.
• Apple uses facial recognition to help users quickly unlock their phones, log in to apps, and make purchases.

Advantages of face recognition

• Aside from unlocking your smartphone, facial recognition brings other benefits
• Increased security
• Face recognition makes it easier to track down burglars, thieves, and trespassers. The sole knowledge of the presence of a face recognition system can serve as a deterrence, especially to petty crime. Aside from physical security, there are benefits to cybersecurity as well. [3] Companies can use face recognition technology as a substitute for passwords to access computers. In theory, the technology cannot be hacked as there is nothing to steal or change, as is the case with a password.

Disadvantages of face recognition

• While some people do not mind being filmed in public and do not object to the use of facial recognition where there is a clear benefit or rationale, the technology can inspire intense reactions from others. Some of the disadvantages or concerns include
• Surveillance
• Facial recognition data is not free from error, which could lead to people being implicated for crimes they have not committed. For example, a slight change in camera angle or a change in appearance, such as a new hairstyle, could lead to error. In 2018, Newsweek reported that Amazon’s facial recognition technology had falsely identified 28 members of the US Congress as people arrested for crimes.

References:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facial_recognition_system
2. https://www.kaspersky.com/.../definitions/what-is-facial-recognition
3. https://www.thalesgroup.com/.../government/biometrics/facial-recognition

Cite this article:

S. Nandhinidwaraka (2021) An overview of Facial Recognition Work, Anatechmaz, pp. 18