VOA慢速英语--面部识别技术有助于识别犯罪但是引发隐私问题

Big technology companies like Amazon have said they are limiting their sale of facial recognition software to law enforcement agencies.

Clearview AI has not. It is a private company based in New York City. Clearview AI provides a facial recognition search engine that contains 3 billion images taken from the internet. The search engine identifies images of people's faces. The company says more than 3,000 law enforcement agencies use the software.

Hoan Ton-That is the chief executive and co-founder of the company. He said, "The way it works is very similar to Google, but instead of putting in words, you're putting in photos of faces, and it will find anything publicly available on the internet that looks like that face."

Police say facial recognition software is an important tool in fighting and solving crimes. But its increasing use has raised concerns that there are too few rules in place for when and how police can use it.

Limits on the software

Police usually have image search engines which can look at drivers' license¹ pictures or other images among police records.

Clearview AI has billions of images gathered from social media and other sites. Internet companies have said the images were taken by breaking their rules. However, Clearview AI's Ton-That said that the company only takes publicly available information.

A law enforcement tool

Clearview AI describes a case on its website in which federal agents were able to identify a man suspected of sexual abuse of a girl from one image using its search engine.

Ton-That said the software has also been used to identify suspects who stormed the U.S. Capitol in January.

He said Clearview AI was useful in the investigation² of many people who may not have had pictures in police databases.

A search using Clearview AI's search engine takes about one second. Ton-That said police were able to quickly identify the suspects from the January 6 incident. They could also reduce false results and speed up the investigation process.

What about privacy?

When protests against police methods happened in the United States last year, Amazon and some other companies banned sales of facial recognition technology to law enforcement. They have not said when they will restart.

Clearview AI continues to provide services to law enforcement agencies. Internet companies like Facebook, Google, and Twitter and civil rights activists³ are warning about its power and possible abuse of people's privacy.

The American Civil Liberties Union, or ACLU, is a nonprofit, rights group. It has brought legal action against Clearview AI in Chicago and in California.

Kate Ruane is a lawyer for the ACLU. She said facial recognition technology makes it possible for the government to watch every part of citizens' lives.

Federal, state and local governments, she said, "do admit that they use it, but they don't tell us how, when or how often."

She said there needs to be more laws and supervision⁴. She is calling for a total freeze on the technology until then.

Legislation aimed at face recognition

In recent months, lawmakers have introduced bills that would limit police use of data they buy that is "illegally obtained."

Ton-That agrees that there needs to be more openness and even rules for the technology's use. But he does not think it should be banned for police use. He said it has been successful in solving crimes.

Ton-That also says that people who use the system must agree to observe its rules. He said messages that appear in the software help prevent its misuse⁵.

Ton-That said his company does not sell its software to foreign governments. He mainly serves law enforcement agencies in the U.S.

Ton-That said the company has worked with some other private organizations for investigative purposes but they have decided⁶ to stay with law enforcement. He said, "it's the easiest, most explainable and best use case of our technology."

Words in This Story

license – n. an official document, card, etc., that gives you permission to do, use, or have something

regulation – n. an official rule or law that says how something should be done

obtain – v. to gain or get (something) usually by effort

1 license   

n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许

参考例句：

• The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
• The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。

2 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

3 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 supervision   

n.监督，管理

参考例句：

• The work was done under my supervision.这项工作是在我的监督之下完成的。
• The old man's will was executed under the personal supervision of the lawyer.老人的遗嘱是在律师的亲自监督下执行的。

5 misuse   

n.误用，滥用；vt.误用，滥用

参考例句：

• It disturbs me profoundly that you so misuse your talents.你如此滥用自己的才能，使我深感不安。
• He was sacked for computer misuse.他因滥用计算机而被解雇了。

6 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。