NIST Face Recognition Study Finds That Algorithms Vary Greatly, Biases Tend to Be Regional

The use of face recognition software by governments is a current topic of controversy around the globe. The world's major powers, primarily the United States and China, have made major advances in both development and deployment of this technology in the past decade. Both the US and China have been exporting this technology to other countries. The rapid spread of facial recognition systems has alarmed privacy advocates concerned about the increased ability of governments to profile and track people, as well as private companies like Facebook tying it to intimately detailed personal profiles. A recent study by the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) that examines facial recognition software vendors has found that there is definitely some merit to claims of racial bias and poor levels of accuracy in specific demographics.