United States. Following the announcement made in the middle of this year that IBM will no longer offer, develop or research facial recognition technology, the company presented a series of specific recommendations to the US Department of Commerce to limit the export of facial recognition systems in specific cases.
Christopher A. Padilla, IBM's vice president of regulatory and governance affairs, commented, "In line with our call last year for precision regulation, we have suggested that the strictest restrictions be imposed on end uses and end users who pose the greatest risk of social harm. We believe that to be most effective, U.S. export controls on facial recognition should:
Focus on facial recognition technologies that employ matching "1 to many" end uses, the kind of facial recognition system that is likely to be used in mass surveillance systems, racial profiling, or other human rights violations. These systems are distinct from "1-to-1" facial matching systems, such as those that can unlock your phone or allow you to board a plane; in those cases, facial recognition verifies that a person who consents is who they say they are. But in a "1 to many" application, a system can, for example, select one face from the crowd by comparing one image to a database of many others.
- Limit the export of "1 to many" systems by controlling the export of both the high-resolution cameras used to collect data and the software algorithms used to analyze and compare that data with an image database.
Limit the ability of certain foreign governments to obtain the large-scale computer components needed to implement an integrated facial recognition system.
Restrict access to online image databases that can be used to train "1 to many" facial recognition systems, and where the person's explicit consent in the image for use may be unclear or non-existent.
- Update the Commerce Department's Crime Control country groups to reflect a country's recent human rights record and place the strictest controls on the export of facial recognition technology, especially "1 to many" matching systems, in countries with a history of human rights violations or misuse of such technology.
- Implement multilaterally, in partnership with U.S. allies. Through a mechanism like the Waasenaar Agreement, to limit the ability of repressive regimes to simply obtain controlled technologies outside the U.S. market.
The executive believes that through this regulation, the U.S. government has a real and immediate opportunity to address very serious and legitimate concerns that have been raised about certain uses of facial recognition around the world. "The additional precision regulatory measures we have recommended may require more time along with legislative action, but we appreciate the Commerce Department's focus on the issue and willingness to drive short-term progress. IBM stands ready to provide all the expertise and support we can to help the Department implement these controls," Padilla added.
