Will America No Longer Be a Democracy ?

Facial Recognition Software (FRS) is becoming more common in American culture and it should be a main concern. Immediately after taking a drivers license picture, you can expect your photo to be shared and compared to millions of other faces in the software. Ultimately, we are all in a perpetual police lineup. FRS has its perks to making daily life easier, such as getting through airport security faster, but the negatives far outweigh the positives. This software violates our right to privacy and it has proven to be inaccurate, which causes many wrongful convictions. 

China is one country that is infamous for using facial recognition as a constant form of spying on their citizens. To travel from place to place, their face is recorded at every angle and privacy becomes non existent. They have become obsessed with preventing crimes before they happen, which seems like a positive until we realize that the process is extremely invasive. As our government continues to promote and use the same technology, we too could be watched like prey. America is built on many basic human rights and a right to privacy is one of them. FRS violates this and causes each individual to be on edge about conducting daily tasks. It also violates the fourth amendment which states that we cannot be searched without a warrant. The software continuously searches us no matter how innocent or guilty we are.. 

Even if people have done nothing against the law in their life, it does not matter to FRS. It does not discriminate and you’re always a suspect. The software has proven many times to be inaccurate. An example of this is if someone was caught on camera stealing, the footage of their face would be sent to the police. From there, the face would be compared to all of the pictures in the system to find the robber. This sounds ideal until people hear that 200 suspects show to being similar to the robber’s face. The inaccuracy then causes wrongful convictions of innocent people, especially since most of them do not have a solid alibi to prove their innocence. 

Another form of inaccuracy is the fact that the FRS is not proficient when distinguishing people of color and women as it is white males. This targets women and people of color specifically and causes more wrongful convictions in those groups of people. This adds to racial profiling and the targeting of women which are things that America is desperately trying to get rid of. Meanwhile, FRS gives inhumane practices a lifeline. 

Next time you walk around the streets of America, take a look around. Cameras are everywhere and our society is rapidly converting to the methods of the Chinese government. Last time I checked, America was a democracy, not a dictatorship. If FRS is not controlled, that is what life in America will feel like, so make your voice heard.