The facial recognition system installed at a US airport helped catch the attacker
On Habré, more than once and not two articles were published on face recognition systems, which turned out to be useless, despite the loud statements of their developers. But sometimes it is different. Thus, the new technology, tested “in the field” at one of the airports in the United States, has shown its high efficiency.
Already on the third day of work, she helped to identify an attacker who was trying to get into the country under a foreign passport. The man tried to get to the USA from Brazil, having arrived by flight on August 22. He used the passport of a citizen of France, although he was not a Frenchman himself. Perhaps in a normal situation, he would have succeeded. But unfortunately, a couple of days before the arrival at the airport, a new face recognition system was installed.
A similar system is installed in Atlanta, Orlando, Las Vegas, Seattle, Miami and San Francisco. In the near future it is planned to install such systems in other US cities.
It works as follows: the passenger becomes in front of the camera so that she takes a photo. Then the picture is compared with what was filed with a passport and / or visa. The reliability of the algorithm is great, the accuracy of the system is about 99% (in any case, according to the developers ).
Passengers who have already passed the test, speak of the facial recognition system as fast and reliable. “It was fast. I was afraid that the system would not recognize me, but everything worked correctly and I went to London. In principle, I liked everything, ”said one of the passengers. But, probably, the person who tried to cross the border of the country on a false passport was most impressed.
Initially, the system, which was called E-gates, was planned as an effective platform for working with passengers, which could reduce the burden on people who check the traffic flow. Every day they have to deal with thousands of passports and photographs, so that the concentration of attention falls already after a relatively short time.
Human rights activists believe that E-gates, in case of successful completion of testing, can leave the airports, that is, they will begin to apply it everywhere and everywhere. And in this case, a number of laws related to the protection of private citizens are already violated.
By the way, for the time being, those who do not wish to be tested using E-gates can choose the usual test. But what will happen next is still unclear.
As for the intruder with a false passport, he was very nervous during and after checking the system, which was clearly visible to the airport employees. As soon as people started checking it, it immediately became clear that there was no mistake, and the attacker violated the law.
According to the developers and employees of airports, during the testing of E-gates, the time for passing inspection by passengers decreased several times - up to four minutes per person. Anyone who has been at the airport at least once knows how long and painful this procedure can be.
As for the other facial recognition systems, they are far from being as effective. For example, through the Amazon Rekognition system drove photos of American congressmen. 28 of them were identifiedlike criminals. And most of all "criminals" among congressmen with dark skin. According to Black Caucus, the use of a face recognition system can have “deep negative unintended consequences” for the black population, illegal migrants and protesters.
Another not very successful system is in service with the Wales Police (United Kingdom). As it turned out , it gives a huge number of false positives - something around 92%. Another platform is being checked by the Scotland Yard police in London. For several months of testing, she gave a warning only once.
But in China, with the help of a similar system, they managed to catch a suspect in committing economic crimes at a concert with 50 thousand spectators. He went there for 90 km from the city in which he was hiding. After the arrest, the Chinese confessed that if he had known something about the current possibilities of the police, he would never have gone to the concert. He hoped that he could hide among a huge number of people.