Does Your College Use Facial Recognition Tech? Find Out Here.
Of 90 schools surveyed, half say they will not use facial recognition
College applicants and students can now check whether nearly 90 universities in the United States may use facial recognition on their campuses.
Technology activism organization Fight For The Future, as well as Students for Sensible Drug Policy, surveyed colleges asking if they would ever consider installing the technology. Representatives from 45 schools, including Carnegie Mellon University, Barnard College and MIT, said their colleges were not using the technology and wouldn’t in the future. The other schools did not respond or comment.
Privacy advocates have warned that facial recognition in public places removes the element of anonymity, meaning people can be actively tracked wherever they go.
“[W]ould you support a new law that said whenever you go into public … you need to wear a digital barcode around your neck?” said Ben Ewen-Campen, a councilor for Somerville, Massachusetts who proposed the city’s now-enacted facial recognition ban.
You can check which schools fall into each category at banfacialrecognition.com.
