12 years ago a sci-fi movie was released. Like all sci-fi movies, it featured technology that had yet to be seen. But within those 12 years, many of the technologies in that film have become, more or less, a reality. The movie we’re talking about is Steven Spielberg’s Minority Report. No, it’s obviously not PreCrime that has become a reality. Multi-touch interfaces and motion sensing cameras like Xbox Kinect, however, are both very much a realization of the technologies used in the film. The U.S. military has been working on “insect robots” similar to the spyders in the film. As of this week, another one of the film’s sci-fi tech predictions has come true: facial recognition advertising.
Face of a Valued Customer
Shopping and facial recognition have already crossed paths before. A number of retailers utilize facial recognition technology to spot known shoplifters when they enter stores. Examples of such services include FaceFirst. They actually email or text message the store owners once a thief’s face is recognized. While it’s an innovative use of a technology, it seems a little negative. So now, the technology is being flipped from recognizing ‘bad’ customers to good ones—ones that are big spenders. Just as FaceFirst spots a known thief based on photographic records, the new software would recognize valued customers based on photos. It’d have the photo linked to a record of previous purchases, clothing size, favorite brands and other details.
Invasion of Privacy?
This is a very relevant question both specifically to this case and generally to the age we live in. Facial recognition advertising is certainly a convenient tech for the retailer. But is it going too far? One could argue it’s not. How different is it than the ways things are done now? Stores, even if they don’t have you sign up for a club or member’s card, still have on record your name and what you purchased (if you used a card). On the other hand, many people would find it slightly obtrusive if—once they set foot in a store—someone immediately barraged them with questions and suggestions based on their shopping record.
These are the sort of questions that are going to be discussed on February 6th, in D.C. Tech experts and consumer advocates are coming together to figure out how to reconcile this enticing new technology with privacy concerns. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration plan to devise a “’voluntary, enforceable code of conduct that specifies how the Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights applies to facial recognition technology in the commercial context.” Voluntary is the key word here in making this technology a viable option. Let’s just hope the advertising doesn’t get so advanced that holograms in the store start talking to you personally whenever you pass by a clothes rack.
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