Facial recognition technology will always be subject to a lot of debate and controversy. The average consumer should not look forward to being affected by facial recognition technology. Residents of Berlin are voluntarily signing up for such a program, though. This experiment with facial recognition technology will leave the community divided for quite some time to come. A Six-month Facial Recognition Trial in Berlin Worries People Many Germans are not in favor of facial recognition technology. However, the current trial taking place in Berlin as also received a lot of community support. There are plenty of volunteers who are signing up for this six-month
Facial recognition technology will always be subject to a lot of debate and controversy. The average consumer should not look forward to being affected by facial recognition technology. Residents of Berlin are voluntarily signing up for such a program, though. This experiment with facial recognition technology will leave the community divided for quite some time to come.
A Six-month Facial Recognition Trial in Berlin Worries People
Many Germans are not in favor of facial recognition technology. However, the current trial taking place in Berlin as also received a lot of community support. There are plenty of volunteers who are signing up for this six-month pilot program in Berlin. It is still a bit unclear what this experiment will be used for. Additionally, there is a fair amount of negative feedback claiming this is just an increase in city wide surveillance.
The project was created by German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere. He visited the Sudkreuz train station in Berlin earlier this week, which is one of the primary locations for this surveillance experiment. Thousands of consumers pass through this station on a daily basis. De Maiziere is also responsible for domestic security in Germany, which explains why he is so interested in facial recognition technology right now. Figuring out how this technology can be used to make the country safer appears to be one of his primary objectives.
At the same time the Minister was there, consumers held a protest against this increased level of surveillance. There are a lot of people who actively oppose the idea of more civilians in Berlin, even though one has to be wary of terrorist activity as well. According to the activists, the trial should be ended as soon as possible, but that is likely not to happen. Creating more extensive profiles of local residents is a big concern, for obvious reasons. The activists feel this pilot program is collecting a lot more information than initially admitted.
So far, 300 testers have actively volunteered for this facial recognition program. All test subjects carry a transponder which should only transmit information on the temperature, battery status, and signal strength. However, the activists claim the angle and acceleration of tests are recorded as well, which would allow nefarious individuals to successfully spy on other users. One activist used his smartphone to track testers within 20 feet and got a lot of results.
The German Data Protection Commissioner is not too happy about the active technology being used to conduct this trial. Using a passive solution would have been received better by the general public, in her opinion. The transponder constantly provides information which anyone can intercept with relative ease. It appears most of the testers have not been informed about this aspect and what type of information it effectively transmits. So far, none of the testers have openly complained about this project, though.
Officially speaking, this experiment is designed to enhance public safety across Germany. Every form of video surveillance can both be useful and an invasion of privacy at the same time. For the time being, this technology is not designed to track shoplifters or other low level criminals but focuses on terrorists and serious offenders. The program has been going on since early August of 2017 and seemingly will continue to run without being halted whatsoever. After the trial, a decision will be made whether or not automatic facial recognition will become a common trend in all of Germany’s train stations and other public spaces.