SIA Outlines Its Biometric Facial Recognition Principles

The Security Industry Association has announced the release of its new policy principles meant to guide the development and deployment of facial recognition technology.

This comes a few months after SIA voiced opposition to The Facial Recognition and Biometric Technology Moratorium Act, which was proposed in June of this year by United States Senators Edward Markey and Jeff Merkley, and would essentially implement a federal moratorium on the use of facial recognition technology by any government agency.

Earlier this week, Pittsburgh became the latest city to move toward banning the use of facial recognition technology by law enforcement, when city councillor Corey O’Connor introduced legislation proposing to do just that.

In a press release announcing the new principles, SIA clarified its stance once more, stating that it believes all technology (including facial recognition) should only be used in lawful, ethical and nondiscriminatory ways.

“SIA recognizes that some community leaders have expressed deeply-held views calling for the end of facial recognition technology use by law enforcement and the private sector,” said SIA CEO Don Erickson. “We respectfully but firmly disagree. Facial recognition technology offers tremendous benefits to society when used effectively and responsibly and with appropriate safeguards.”

Erickson concluded by saying that SIA “invite[s] all stakeholders to review these well-thought-out principles and engage with us in meaningful discussions leading to common-sense approaches to how this technology is used.”

Developed with the input of many SIA members including the SIA Facial Recognition Working Group, the SIA Data Privacy Advisory Board, and the SIA Executive Committee, the principles include ensuring transparency, the incorporation of human oversight and review, ensuring privacy by design, the elimination (or improvement) of biased software and the protection and security of data.

In addition to the core principles, SIA’s new document also has within it guidelines concerning the use of facial recognition technology by law enforcement and the public and private sectors.

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August 28, 2020 – by Tony Bitzionis