Race, again: how face recognition technology reinforces racial discrimination
| Date | 12 August 2019 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JICES-05-2018-0050 |
| Published date | 12 August 2019 |
| Pages | 321-335 |
| Author | Fabio Bacchini,Ludovica Lorusso |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Information management & governance,Information & communications technology |
Race, again: how face recognition
technology reinforces racial
discrimination
Fabio Bacchini
Laboratory of Applied Epistemology, DADU, University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy
and Xlab, Ljubljana, Slovenia, and
Ludovica Lorusso
Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Sassari,
Sassari, Italy and Xlab, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Abstract
Purpose –This study aims to explorewhether face recognition technology –as it is intenselyused by state
and local police departmentsand law enforcement agencies –is racism free or, on the contrary, is affected by
racial biasesand/or racist prejudices, thus reinforcing overall racialdiscrimination.
Design/methodology/approach –The study investigates the causal pathways through which face
recognition technology may reinforce the racial disproportion in enforcement; it also inquires whether it
further discriminates black people by making them experience more racial discrimination and self-identify
more decisivelyas black –two conditions that are shown to be harmful in various respects.
Findings –This study shows that face recognitiontechnology, as it is produced, implemented and used in
Western societies, reinforces existing racial disparities in stop, investigation, arrest and incarceration rates
because of racist prejudicesand even contributes to strengthen the unhealthy effectsof racism on historically
disadvantagedracial groups, like black people.
Practical implications –The findings hope to make law enforcement agencies and softwarecompanies
aware that they must take adequate action against the racially discriminative effects of the use of face
recognitiontechnology.
Social implications –This study highlightsthat no implementation of an allegedly racism-free biometric
technology is safefrom the risk of racially discriminating, simply becauseeach implementation leans against
our society,which is affected by racism in many persisting ways.
Originality/value –While the ethical survey of biometric technologies is traditionally framed in the
discourse of universal rights,this study explores an issue that has not been deeply scrutinized so far, that is,
how face recognition technology differently affects distinct racial groups and how it contributes to racial
discrimination.
Keywords Race, Biometrics, Face recognition, Racial discrimination, Racial identity
Paper type Conceptual paper
1. Introduction
The use of face recognition technology is becoming increasingly common all around the
world. As algorithms get morereliable every year, more and more law enforcement agencies
The authors would like to thank Massimo Tistarelli for his generous support. Thanks also go to
Gregor Pipan and all the people at Xlab, Ljubljana, Slovenia, who provided insight and expertise that
greatly assisted our work. This work has been fully supported by the IDENTITY Project –Computer
Vision Enabled Multimedia Forensics and People Identification, H2020-MSCA-RISE-2015, n. 690907.
Face
recognition
technology
321
Received25 May 2018
Revised14 September 2018
Accepted12 January 2019
Journalof Information,
Communicationand Ethics in
Society
Vol.17 No. 3, 2019
pp. 321-335
© Emerald Publishing Limited
1477-996X
DOI 10.1108/JICES-05-2018-0050
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/1477-996X.htm
To continue reading
Request your trial