Shortly after the terrorist attacks on September 11, the Federal Bureau of Investigation was reduced to asking Americans if they could identify any of the 19 suspected hijackers. In the months that followed, it became clear that human efforts to track terrorists might not be enough. So it wasn't surprising to see a new technology race develop between at least 20 firms trying to build electronic watchdogs, including face-recognition systems. Before long, some companies proposed that if their systems were installed in airports, just as metal detectors are, hijackers and terrorists could be identified before they boarded planes. Several such systems have been installed on a trial basis.
But so far none of the face-recognition systems tested in airports has spotted a single person actually wanted by authorities. Instead, they have served only to embarrass innocent people. The technology seems to be better at making incorrect matches, called false positives, than spotting terrorists. Barry Steinhardt, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Technology and Liberty Program, says tests of face-recognition technology show it is far from effective, and most likely little will be gained in return for surrendering privacy rights and mobility. "Under real-world conditions," he says, "Osama bin Laden could easily evade a face-recognition system."
