France Television has been running a number of tests with the tech on Paris streets.
Though it can’t really be seen as we go about our everyday lives, facial recognition technology has been making its way into a broad spectrum of our typical activities, from unlocking smartphones to interacting with certain businesses and when traveling.
Even when we feel we’re just another face in the crowd, we are far from going unnoticed.
Facial recognition technology advances have made it increasingly challenging for people to be able to move around anonymously, particularly in societies where social media is heavily used. This is important to know for anyone attending the Paris 2024 Olympics, as the tech will play a central role in the security efforts being implemented there.
Recently, France Television ran a number of tests using the technology on Paris streets in preparation for the Olympic Games next year. The outcome of the tests was a little startling to anyone who likes the thought of blending in and privately going about their way.
One journalist who was accompanied by a specialist in the technology took a photograph of a woman who was sitting in a Paris café during the test. It took less than 20 seconds for the woman to be identified.
AI and facial recognition are being combined in order to be able to identify virtually anyone in public.
“She comes from Lyon. She is registered on nannying websites,” said artificial intelligence engineer Anis Ayan in a recent EuroNews report.
When the journalist quickly checked with the woman in the photo, it was confirmed that the information the technology had found about her was all correct.
“It’s a little bit scary. Especially when I’m not from here, when we find ourselves in another city. I’m not the kind of person to put pictures on the internet, so that I can be found like that is surprising,” said he woman.
The new facial recognition technology is meant to be used for law enforcement and for security during the Paris 2024 Olympics. That said, this might put a new law in the European Union to the test. That law would allow citizens to demand that their image be removed from internet sites.
