Face masks frustrating facial recognition technology, US agency says

A new study has found that the masks which protect people from spreading the coronavirus also have a second use, breaking facial recognition algorithms. Researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology have found that the best facial recognition algorithms had significantly higher error rates when trying to identify someone wearing a cloth covering. The researchers tested one-to-one matching algorithms, where a photo is compared to a different photo of the same person. This verification method is commonly used to unlock smartphones, or check passports. It drew digital masks onto the faces in a trove of border crossing photographs, and then compared those photos against another database of unmasked people seeking visas and other immigration benefits.