Consensus Study Report
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This activity was supported by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) through contract number 70RSAT21G00000003/70RDAD21FR0000159 with the National Academy of Sciences and by the Federal Bureau of Investigation with the assistance of DHS. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of any organization or agency that provided support for the project.
International Standard Book Number-13: 978-0-309-71320-7
International Standard Book Number-10: 0-309-71320-X
Digital Object Identifier: https://doi.org/10.17226/27397
Library of Congress Control Number: 2024933216
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Suggested citation: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2024. Facial Recognition Technology: Current Capabilities, Future Prospects, and Governance. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/27397.
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COMMITTEE ON FACIAL RECOGNITION:
CURRENT CAPABILITIES, FUTURE PROSPECTS, AND GOVERNANCE
EDWARD W. FELTEN (NAE), Princeton University, Co-Chair
JENNIFER L. MNOOKIN, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Co-Chair
THOMAS D. ALBRIGHT (NAS), Salk Institute for Biological Studies
RICARDO BAEZA-YATES, Northeastern University
BOB BLAKLEY, Team8
PATRICK GROTHER, National Institute of Standards and Technology
MARVIN B. HAIMAN, Metropolitan Police Department, Washington, DC
AZIZ Z. HUQ, University of Chicago
ANIL K. JAIN (NAE), Michigan State University
ELIZABETH E. JOH, University of California, Davis
MICHAEL C. KING, Florida Institute of Technology
NICOL TURNER LEE, The Brookings Institution
IRA S. REESE, Global Security and Innovative Strategies
CYNTHIA RUDIN, Duke University
Study Staff
BRENDAN ROACH, Program Officer, Computer Science and Telecommunications Board (CSTB) (through December 31, 2023)
JON K. EISENBERG, Senior Board Director, CSTB
STEVEN KENDALL, Senior Program Officer, Committee on Science, Technology, and Law
GABRIELLE M. RISICA, Program Officer, CSTB
EMILY BACKES, Deputy Board Director, Committee on Law and Justice
SHENAE A. BRADLEY, Administrative Assistant, CSTB
______________
NOTE: See Appendix D, Disclosure of Unavoidable Conflict of Interest.
COMPUTER SCIENCE AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS BOARD
LAURA HAAS (NAE), University of Massachusetts Amherst, Chair
DAVID DANKS, University of California, San Diego
CHARLES ISBELL, University of Wisconsin–Madison
ECE KAMAR, Microsoft Research
JAMES F. KUROSE (NAE), University of Massachusetts Amherst
DAVID LUEBKE, NVIDIA
JOHN L. MANFERDELLI, Independent Consultant, San Francisco, California, Ex Officio
DAWN C. MEYERRIECKS, MITRE Corporation
WILLIAM L. SCHERLIS, Carnegie Mellon University
HENNING SCHULZRINNE, Columbia University
NAMBIRAJAN SESHADRI (NAE), University of California, San Diego
KENNETH E. WASHINGTON, Medtronic
Staff
JON K. EISENBERG, Senior Board Director
SHENAE A. BRADLEY, Administrative Assistant
RENEE HAWKINS, Finance Business Partner
THƠ H. NGUYỄN, Senior Program Officer
GABRIELLE M. RISICA, Program Officer
BRENDAN ROACH, Program Officer
NNEKA UDEAGBALA, Associate Program Officer
COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND LAW
MARTHA MINOW, Harvard Law School, Co-Chair
HAROLD VARMUS (NAS/NAM), Weill Cornell Medicine, Co-Chair
DAVID APATOFF, Arnold and Porter
ERWIN CHEMERINSKY, University of California, Berkeley, School of Law
ELLEN WRIGHT CLAYTON (NAM), Vanderbilt University Medical Center
JOHN S. COOKE, Federal Judicial Center, Ex Officio
JENNIFER EBERHARDT (NAS), Stanford University
KENNETH C. FRAZIER, Merck & Co., Inc.
CAROL W. GREIDER (NAS/NAM), University of California, Santa Cruz
STEVEN E. HYMAN (NAM), Harvard University
BARBARA McGAREY, Department of Health and Human Services (Retired)
ERNEST J. MONIZ, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
KIMANI PAUL-EMILE, Fordham University
K. SABEEL RAHMAN, Brooklyn Law School
NATALIE RAM, University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law
JULIE ROBINSON, U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas
PATTI B. SARIS, U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts
VICKI L. SATO, Denali Therapeutics and VIR Biotechnology, Inc.
BARBARA A. SCHAAL (NAS), Washington University in St. Louis
JOSHUA M. SHARFSTEIN (NAM), Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
CLIFFORD J. TABIN (NAS), Harvard Medical School
Staff
ANNE-MARIE MAZZA, Senior Director
STEVEN KENDALL, Senior Program Officer
RENEE DALY, Senior Program Assistant
COMMITTEE ON LAW AND JUSTICE
ROBERT D. CRUTCHFIELD, University of Washington, Chair
SALLY S. SIMPSON, University of Maryland, Vice Chair
ROD K. BRUNSON, University of Maryland
PREETI CHAUHAN, John Jay College of Criminal Justice
CYNTHIA LUM, George Mason University
JOHN M. MacDONALD, University of Pennsylvania
KAREN MATHIS, University of Colorado Boulder
THOEDORE A. McKEE, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
SAMUEL L. MYERS, JR., University of Minnesota
EMILY OWENS, University of California, Irvine
LAURIE O. ROBINSON, George Mason University, Consultant
ADDIE ROLNICK, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
WILLIAM J. SABOL, Georgia State University
VINCENT SCHIRALDI, Maryland Department of Juvenile Services
EMILY WANG, Yale School of Medicine
Staff
NATACHA BLAIN, Senior Board/Program Director
EMILY BACKES, Deputy Board Director
ABIGAIL ALLEN, Associate Program Officer
JULIE SCHUCK, Program Officer
STACEY SMIT, Program Coordinator
Reviewers
This Consensus Study Report was reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in making each published report as sound as possible and to ensure that it meets the institutional standards for quality, objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process.
We thank the following individuals for their review of this report:
Although the reviewers listed above provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the conclusions or recommendations of this report, nor did they see the final draft before its release. The review of this report was overseen by ROBERT F. SPROULL (NAE), University of Massachusetts Amherst, and JONATHAN D. MORENO (NAM), University of Pennsylvania Health System. They were
responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this report was carried out in accordance with the standards of the National Academies and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content rests entirely with the authoring committee and the National Academies.
In Lieu of Other Methods for Verifying Identity or Confirming Presence
Nonconsensual Commercial and Other Private Purposes
4 EQUITY, PRIVACY, CIVIL LIBERTIES, HUMAN RIGHTS, AND GOVERNANCE
Equity, Race, and Facial Recognition Technology
Civil Liberties, Privacy, Human Rights, and Facial Recognition Technology
The Governance of Facial Recognition Technology
Facial Recognition Technology in Criminal Investigations and Trials
Addressing Wrongful Matches and Intrusive Deployment of Facial Recognition Technology
5 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Technical Performance and Standards
Applying the Framework to Real-World Use Cases
Use of Facial Recognition for Law Enforcement Investigations
Potential Executive Action and Legislation
B Presentations to the Committee
Preface
Facial recognition technology (FRT) is an increasingly prevalent tool for automated identification and identity verification. The use of FRT in a wide and growing variety of contexts has brought into increasing focus both the potential benefits of using FRT and concerns about impacts on equity, privacy, and civil liberties. In 2021, the Department of Homeland Security requested that the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine conduct a study that considers current capabilities, future possibilities, societal implications, and governance of FRT. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) joined as a formal sponsor of the study in March 2023.
The National Academies established the Committee on Facial Recognition: Current Capabilities, Future Prospects, and Governance to conduct this study (for biographical information, see Appendix C). The study addresses current use cases; explains how facial recognition technologies operate; and examines the legal, social, and ethical issues implicated by their use. The full statement of task for the committee is shown in Appendix A.
The committee met in person in July 2022 and February 2023 and met virtually 16 times to receive briefings from experts and stakeholders (for a list of presentations, see Appendix B), review relevant reports and technical literature, deliberate, and develop this report.
The committee would like to thank the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Biometric Identity Management (OBIM) and the FBI for their sponsorship of this study. It would also like to thank James L. Wayman, a member of the scientific staff in OBIM, and Richard W. Vorder Bruegge, a senior physical scientist at the FBI, who served as technical liaisons with the study. Last, the committee would like to acknowledge the assistance throughout the study of the following National Academies’ staff: Brendan Roach, Steven Kendall, Gabrielle Risica, Shenae Bradley, Emily Backes, and Jon Eisenberg.
