Giving Compass' Take:

• According to new research from U. Michigan, the use of facial recognition in schools is heightening the risk of racism and the potential for privacy erosion and should be banned. 

• How might the creators of facial recognition technology influence its tendency towards racial bias? 

• Learn more about how facial recognition technology misidentifies people of color.

The study comes at a time when debates over returning to in-person school in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic are consuming administrators and teachers, who need to decide which technologies will best serve public health and educational and privacy requirements.

Among the concerns is facial recognition, which officials could use to monitor student attendance and behavior as well as contact tracing. But the report argues the technology will “exacerbate racism,” an issue of particular concern as the nation confronts structural inequality and discrimination.

In the pre-COVID-19 debate about the technology, experts saw deployment of facial recognition as a potential panacea to assist with security measures in the aftermath of school shootings. Schools also have begun using it to track students and automate attendance records. Globally, facial recognition technology represents a $3.2 billion business.

The study asserts, however, that not only is the technology unsuited to security purposes, but it also creates a web of serious problems beyond racial discrimination. These include normalizing surveillance and eroding privacy, institutionalizing inaccuracy and creating false data on school life, commodifying data, and marginalizing nonconforming students.

Read the full article about racial recognition and racism via U. Michigan at Futurity.