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Should Facial Recognition Cameras Be In Schools? (nyclu.org)
Facial recognition technology is making its way into schools, raising privacy concerns among parents and officials. The New York Civil Liberties Union issued a report on the matter that focuses on one public school district in particular: Western New York's Lockport School District. "News reports indicate the district plans to have the invasive and error-prone technology installed by next school year," reports NYCLU. The Union sent a letter (PDF) to the New York State Education Department urging it to consider students' and teachers' privacy in reviewing the use of surveillance technology by school districts. They also "sent a freedom of information request to the district seeking details of how and where the technology will be used as well as who will have access to the sensitive data that gets collected."
The report highlights some of the concerns/negatives of such a system. For starters, it costs millions of dollars (Lockport spent almost $4 million), which could be used for things like Wi-Fi, new computers, or 3D printers. It has the "potential to turn every step a student takes into evidence of a crime." The databases could include those used for immigration enforcement, making parents of immigrant students afraid to send their children to school for fear that they or their children could end up on ICE's radar. Last but not least, since facial recognition is notoriously inaccurate, "innocent students are likely to be misidentified and punished for things they didn't do."
Of course, it isn't all bad. Proponents of the system say it can be used to alert officials to whenever sex offenders, suspended students, fired employees, suspected gang members, or anyone else placed on a school's "blacklist" enters the premises. Do you think facial recognition cameras belong in schools?
The report highlights some of the concerns/negatives of such a system. For starters, it costs millions of dollars (Lockport spent almost $4 million), which could be used for things like Wi-Fi, new computers, or 3D printers. It has the "potential to turn every step a student takes into evidence of a crime." The databases could include those used for immigration enforcement, making parents of immigrant students afraid to send their children to school for fear that they or their children could end up on ICE's radar. Last but not least, since facial recognition is notoriously inaccurate, "innocent students are likely to be misidentified and punished for things they didn't do."
Of course, it isn't all bad. Proponents of the system say it can be used to alert officials to whenever sex offenders, suspended students, fired employees, suspected gang members, or anyone else placed on a school's "blacklist" enters the premises. Do you think facial recognition cameras belong in schools?
Yes.. it could be used for recognizing fired employees and suspected gang members. But why on earth are we discussing face recognition cameras FIRST and only THEN what they could be used for?
"Hey! Let's install a few face recognition cameras at $SOMEWHERE."
"Cool. Should those belong there? What could we do with them?"
"Uhmm... let's think of something. Something with Sex offenders?"
Solution in search of a problem.
Does your school HAVE AN ACTUAL PROBLEM with suspended students or fired employee entering school grounds? If yes, could it be solved better and cheaper with a retired cop sitting at a front desk/gate? THEN we could discuss about pros and cons.
In a related aspect..... why would ICE need face recognition? Wouldn't it be easier to check if known illegal immigrants (They have to be known if their face would be searched for by camera) have enrolled? I don't think it's possible to visit schools in the US anonymously, is it?
bickerdyke
Don't you mean WHEN? Oh, you can bet schools will be the first to adopt these, for the "safety" of the children. Once kids grow up with that technology, as adults, they won't scoff at the idea of them being everywhere, because they are use to it. It's called CONDITIONING.