"As the committee considers privacy legislation in the future, we will need to understand the capabilities of this technology, as well as the privacy and security concerns raised by their development," Rockefeller wrote. "I ask that the commission provide a report to the [committee] following the workshop, and that this report include potential legislative approaches to protect consumer privacy as this technology proliferates." He wants recommendations by Feb. 8, 2012, according to the letter.Read the whole thing.
Meanwhile, the FBI expects to activate a nationwide facial recognition service for authorities in select states by January 2012. Officials will be able to upload a picture of an unknown person and receive a list of mug shots ranked in order of similarity to the features of the subject in the photo. The tool will search among the 10 million images stored in the FBI's biometric identification system for suggestions, but will not provide a direct match.
In Wednesday's letter, Rockefeller asked whether there should be special protections for the use of facial recognition on or by young people, among other things.
See also:
FBI to launch nationwide facial recognition service
Face Recognition in the Era of the Cloud and Social Media: Is it Time to Hit the Panic Button?
