U.S. Government Expands Facial Recognition, Discrimination Concerns Noted
The U.S. General Services Administration announced facial recognition technology would be offered as an optional identity verification method for Login.gov users. Legal experts and civil liberties advocates have raised concerns about potential discrimination against people of colour, citing documented disparities in facial recognition accuracy across demographic groups.
What happened
The General Services Administration announced it would offer facial recognition technology as an optional identity verification method for Login.gov users, a federal government portal for accessing public services and benefits.
Reported impact
Concerns have been raised regarding potential discrimination against people of colour due to documented disparities in facial recognition system accuracy across different demographic groups.
Index analysis
Legal commentary notes that discrimination laws must be updated to encompass facial recognition models and their differential performance across populations.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.