Facial-recognition technology has been in the headlines a lot lately, from San Francisco's efforts to ban it to Amazon shooting down an employee request to limit its reach. Advocates argue that it's an effective way to track down criminals or speed up mundane processes like boarding a flight, but there are concerns about inaccurate results and using it for nefarious purposes.
In a recent PCMag survey, 31 percent of the 2,000 respondents said they don't trust facial-recognition technology.
How the technology is used is a big part of that trust. When asked for instances in which it would be suitable to use facial-recognition technology, the most popular response at 37 percent was detection and prevention of crime.
Another 28 percent support using facial-recognition technology in the airline industry to potentially shorten wait times and line length by checking in passengers through facial identification. Just over a quarter of respondents say its use is acceptable for access and authentication to mobile devices, and 25 percent are okay with it being used for healthcare needs.
Only about 19 percent want to use it for paying bills and making purchases online.
But while 37 percent of people support the use of facial-recognition tech for law enforcement purposes, San Francisco's Board of Supervisors voted to ban police and city agencies from using it. Oakland, Berkeley, and Somerville, Massachusetts, are reportedly considering the same thing.
As reported by the New York Times, civil liberty groups are concerned about the government's access to the technology and its potential contribution toward furthering a surveillance state. However, the police force in San Francisco does not even employ the use of facial-recognition technology yet, making its ban more about principle than addressing immediate concerns.