{"id":2224,"date":"2018-08-09T14:00:46","date_gmt":"2018-08-09T18:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timothydimoff.com\/?p=2224"},"modified":"2018-08-09T14:00:46","modified_gmt":"2018-08-09T18:00:46","slug":"is-facial-recognition-technology-a-good-idea-to-make-schools-safe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timothydimoff.com\/2018\/08\/09\/is-facial-recognition-technology-a-good-idea-to-make-schools-safe\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Facial Recognition Technology a Good Idea to Make Schools Safe?"},"content":{"rendered":"

East of Niagara Falls, NY the Lockport school system<\/a> is allowing advanced security measures to keep their schools safe this year. Facial recognition technology will be used to check each face entering school buildings against a database of expelled students, sex offenders and other possible troublemakers. However, it is being implemented under pointed criticism and scrutiny.<\/p>\n

What some deem as a great option to prevent potential violence, others see as a gross violation of privacy and civil rights. This leads to the question, is facial recognition technology a good idea to make schools safe? Maybe, but only with proper planning, implementation and management.<\/p>\n

What is Electronic Facial Recognition?<\/h2>\n

Facial recognition technology<\/a><\/u> is part of biometrics. Essentially, it uses biological data (e.g. unique features, aka \u201clandmarks\u201d, geometric proportions of facial features, distance between key facial features, and skin surface texture) and electronically stores them as essential elements of an individual\u2019s face. This data is then compared with the biological data of scanned faces for facial recognition and identification.<\/p>\n

Benefits<\/h3>\n

To date it has primarily been used for security and law enforcement purposes in order to:<\/p>\n