  Over the past couple of years, the growing debate around automated facial
recognition has reached a boiling point. As developers have continued to
swiftly expand the scope of these kinds of technologies into an almost
unbounded range of applications, an increasingly strident chorus of critical
voices has sounded concerns about the injurious effects of the proliferation of
such systems. Opponents argue that the irresponsible design and use of facial
detection and recognition technologies (FDRTs) threatens to violate civil
liberties, infringe on basic human rights and further entrench structural
racism and systemic marginalisation. They also caution that the gradual creep
of face surveillance infrastructures into every domain of lived experience may
eventually eradicate the modern democratic forms of life that have long
provided cherished means to individual flourishing, social solidarity and human
self-creation. Defenders, by contrast, emphasise the gains in public safety,
security and efficiency that digitally streamlined capacities for facial
identification, identity verification and trait characterisation may bring. In
this explainer, I focus on one central aspect of this debate: the role that
dynamics of bias and discrimination play in the development and deployment of
FDRTs. I examine how historical patterns of discrimination have made inroads
into the design and implementation of FDRTs from their very earliest moments.
And, I explain the ways in which the use of biased FDRTs can lead
distributional and recognitional injustices. The explainer concludes with an
exploration of broader ethical questions around the potential proliferation of
pervasive face-based surveillance infrastructures and makes some
recommendations for cultivating more responsible approaches to the development
and governance of these technologies.
