Facial Recognition: Identity v. Surveillance

Our Perspective

In recent weeks, technology leaders Amazon, Microsoft and IBM have made headlines by committing to limit the use of their facial recognition (FR) systems and refusing to sell it to police departments across the U.S. until there is a federal law in place to regulate it. A Google research assistant also made a case for banning the technology’s use by police departments in a recent interview with the New York Times. You may also remember the media attention generated last September by Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib’s exchange with Detroit Police Chief James Craig around FR technology’s inability to accurately identify people of color in her district, and the harmful consequences that can arise from its use.

At Incode, a biometric identity startup, we’ve been monitoring these headlines and developments closely. That’s why I wanted to reach out to all of you today to make our position on the use of our FR technology very clear. First, let me state unequivocally that Incode does not stand for racial injustice. We take every precaution to ensure that our FR technology is used safely, fairly and accurately. We also consider the privacy and security of our customers to be our top priorities.

We divide FR into two categories: surveillance and identity. In the situations cited above, surveillance is considered the “bad guy” by its opponents because it’s non-consensual and generally used for private and public security and law enforcement without any oversight. Tech companies like Amazon, IBM and Microsoft are discontinuing the sale of their FR systems because they retain little control over its use once a third party — like a police department or other law enforcement agency — purchases and implements it.

Please rest assured that the way our FR technology is used for identity purposes is completely different. With Incode, every use is entirely consensual every time you use it. There’s also a clear expectation of data usage and retention along with complete control by the user that includes the ability to export, revoke and forget the results.

I also believe it is a good time to remind you that Incode is HIPPA, CCPA and GDPR compliant. The biometric info captured by our FR technology is stored in unidentifiable hashes that work very much like tokens. The technology stack in identity FR technology includes features like liveness detection, computational photography, identity matching, and more. This is completely different from the technology stack used in surveillance applications.

At Incode, we made a conscious decision early on in our history NOT to participate in surveillance applications because we care so much about privacy and security. As a reminder, here’s a video around our commitment to privacy and control we created when we founded the company.

The intent of our identity biometrics is to help create frictionless experiences, from retrieving money from an ATM or paying your restaurant bill with your face, to boarding a plane or checking in to a hotel without having to show IDs. Our goal is to make everyone’s experiences during these situations as easy and convenient as possible — without compromising anyone’s privacy or security.

I hope this relieves any concerns you may have had given the recent media coverage around FR. As always, I invite you to reach out to us with any questions or comments. You have my commitment that we will respond as quickly as possible.

Thank you for partnering with us. We look forward to working with you for many years to come.

-Ricardo Amper, Founder & CEO of Incode Technologies