What Is Facial Recognition Used For?

Where Is Facial Recognition Used?
North America
South America
Europe
Middle East and Central Asia
East Asia and Oceania
Africa
Top Face Recognition Companies in the World
Herta (Spain, UK, US)
AxxonSoft (UK)
Suprema (UK)
AnyVision (Israel)
BioSmart (Czech Republic)
What Is Facial Recognition Used For?
Public Security
Device Security
Identifying Genetic Disorders
Preventing Retail Crime
Buying Alcohol
Mobile Apps
Marketing
Help the Blind
Social Media
Track School Attendance
Casinos
Banking & Secure Transactions
Facial Recognition Solutions from RecFaces
Face Recognition FAQ
What kind of data does facial recognition use?
What is bad about facial recognition?
Can you use facial recognition to find someone?

Where Is Facial Recognition Used?

Facial recognition technology has become common in a large number of countries around the world. This number continues to grow, as many countries have approved the usage of facial recognition, but it has not yet been implemented. There are currently only three countries in which facial recognition technology has been banned altogether. So, who uses facial recognition, and who is behind the curve?

North America

According to a Pew Research Survey, approximately 59% of Americans approve of the implementation of facial recognition technology as a law enforcement solution. However, there are some cities, like San Francisco, that have banned surveillance systems that utilize face recognition. There will likely be more and more cities that prohibit this technology throughout 2020, due to the current political climate and protests in the U.S. Still, despite some pushback, the industry continues to grow. For instance, the Department of Homeland Security’s Biometric Exit program plans to use facial recognition surveillance on 97% of departing airline passengers by 2023.
Facial recognition came in handy in the Bahamas, when it was used to identify thousands of people displaced from Hurricane Dorian. In the Summer of 2019, this natural disaster disrupted the island, but the creation of the blockchain-based database for missing persons, FindMeBahamas, greatly aided the rescue missions.

South America

Most of South America’s facial recognition technology is used to crack down on crime. It was even used to track down Interpol’s second most wanted criminal, a drug baron. That same system also contributed to the capture of a male murderer who was dressed at a woman at Rio’s Carnival. In 2019, 16 facial recognition camera feeds were set up during the Carnival – and these feeds alone led to 134 arrests.
Brazil plans to form a biometric database of its 209 million citizens. However, this is a fairly controversial action – many Brazilians are fearful that facial recognition technology will be used to weed out citizens who voice strong opinions against the government.
Argentina is another South American country that has successfully been augmenting law enforcement with facial recognition. In 2019, across the span of just six weeks, Argentinian police were able to positively identify 590 criminals.
Europe
Two of the three countries that have prohibited facial recognition are in Europe: Belgium and Luxembourg. Belgian law allows the use of intelligent cameras that can detect specific characteristics (such as a person’s clothing or the color of their bag), but they cannot be used for verifying a person’s identity.
Luxembourg has not officially stated that facial recognition breaches the law, unlike Belgium; however, the government has emphasized their disapproval of this kind of technology. Cabinet minister Marc Goergen has stated that Luxembourg’s CCTV camera network does not use any facial recognition software, nor is it connected to an external database. What’s more, any footage shot is deleted after two months, as long as it isn’t required for investigation purposes.
Currently, approximately 80% of Europeans do not want law enforcement authorities to use facial recognition technology. However, it’s still being used in the majority of countries across Europe, and mostly for law enforcement purposes. In Czech Republic, the facial recognition cameras at the Prague Airport have directly led to 160+ arrests since the middle of 2018. Germany plans on installing facial recognition surveillance systems in 14 airports and 134 train stations across the country. In England, there are plenty of facial recognition surveillance systems in place, but a study carried out by the Metropolitan Police showed that there was a 96% rate of false positives.

Middle East and Central Asia

While facial recognition technology is still commonly used by law enforcement across the Middle East and Central Asia, it also has a large presence in the military. Israel uses facial recognition cameras to survey Palestinian citizens as they cross West Bank military checkpoints. Turkey is planning to develop autonomous military drones that detect human targets via facial recognition.
The United Arab Emirates has developed an innovative solution for police officers in heavy crowds – discreet smart glasses. These glasses can scan large crowds of people, and positive identification matches will show up on a display embedded within the lens. Currently, there is a database of approximately 1 million images to compare pictures to.

East Asia and Oceania

China, South Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore used biometric facial recognition technology to implement contact tracing throughout the COVID pandemic. It was used to see who infected people came into contact with, and to identify those who were not complying to mask regulations.
In Japan, stores that use facial recognition surveillance cameras have experienced a 40% decline in shoplifting incidents. In Macau, 2 out of every 3 casino operators are either using or testing facial recognition tech. And in Australia, the government has proposed using facial recognition to verify the ages of people trying to watch pornography online.

Africa

Many African countries are not currently using facial recognition technology, but this might not last for long. Huawei and other Chinese telecom companies have partnered up with countries like Kenya and Uganda, giving them the necessary financing and infrastructure to set up facial recognition surveillance systems.

Top Face Recognition Companies in the World

The following companies are renowned for their contributions to the facial recognition industry:

Herta (Spain, UK, US)

Herta offers innovative facial recognition solutions, including BioSurvelliance. This algorithm is designed to identify members of a crowd in real time, with high accuracy and robust speed. Herta has offices in London, Madrid, and Los Angeles, as well as partners in 50 countries. Herta’s solutions are most often used for security guarding, intruder detection, IP access control, and door entry systems.

AxxonSoft (UK)

AxxonSoft was founded in 2003 – since then, it has completed over 150,000 projects and installed more than 2.5 million cameras. The company has over 5,800 certified partners spread across more than 100 countries. These partners perform approximately 1,500 camera installations per month. AxxonSoft provides exceptional support and quick response time. The company’s PSIM and VMS platforms provide facial recognition power to airports, banks, retailers, government facilities, and retailers worldwide.

Suprema (UK)

Suprema is an international leading provider of security and biometric solutions. It has been listed as one of the World’s top 50 security companies, and it is one of the biggest biometrics-based providers globally. Currently, Suprema has sales networks in more than 133 companies. Some of the company’s solutions include face and fingerprint IP readers, RFID, and IP access control systems.

AnyVision (Israel)

The AI designers and security veterans at AnyVision have 20+ years of experience with deep learning, AI, and computer vision. AnyVision offers solutions that are built to operate on any sensor and any resolution, and that are proven to work in real-time, real-world cases. Some instances where AnyVision products can be used include remote, video, and public space surveillance.

BioSmart (Czech Republic)

BioSmart offers biometric readers (including 3D face, RFID, fingerprint, and palm veins), attendance terminals, and access control systems that are a great fit for warehouses, restaurants, banks, factories, and retail chains. BioSmart’s Quasar uses deep machine learning algorithms that have a basis in convolutional neural networks, plus unique software and hardware solutions for modeling 3D facial images.

What Is Facial Recognition Used For?

While facial recognition was primarily developed for security purposes, it has evolved to include many more uses. Face recognition has been implemented in an enormous aspect of our daily lives – whether we realize it or not. Many people merely interact with face recognition as a way of unlocking their phones. However, the way governments and companies use this technology will have a great impact on humanity.

Public Security

The increasing consumer acceptance towards facial recognition is driving public safety and security applications. This technology has the potential to be a useful tool in fighting crime by locating wanted fugitives within a crowd, identifying criminals whose images have been captured on a surveillance feed, or catching terrorists as they enter your country. Face recognition technology is already rolling out in airports; for instance, many airports use face-scanning technology in order to verify travelers’ identities at customs.

Device Security

Facial recognition technology can be implemented to protect mobile devices. For instance, Apple’s Face ID allows you to unlock your phone and make purchases across the entire Apple ecosystem. Because it uses 3D modeling, it can’t be tricked by a mask or by showing the camera a photo of the user.

Identifying Genetic Disorders

Facial recognition can be used to diagnose genetic disorders and diseases that cause changes in physical appearance. For instance, the National Human Genome Research Institute can diagnose DiGeorge syndrome with face recognition technology. The Institute has used such technology to diagnose 96% of their cases.

Preventing Retail Crime

Currently, face recognition is being used to identify when known shoplifters enter a retail establishments. Photographs of these individuals can be matched against criminal databases, and retail security professionals are notified when a threat enters the store. These systems have reduced product loss due to shoplifting by a moderate amount and the rate of violent retail incidents by a high amount (some studies show up to 91%).

Buying Alcohol

In the UK, facial recognition software is undergoing integration into self-checkout machines. If a customer attempts to purchase alcohol (or another age-restricted product), the terminal’s camera will scan their facial features and verify their age. The reasoning behind this is to reduce the workload of staff that are usually required to manually verify restricted purchases at self-service checkouts.

Mobile Apps

Some facial recognition apps, such as FaceApp, combine facial recognition with entertainment. Users can take a selfie and, with just the push of a button, see what they would look like older, younger, as the opposite gender, and more. Another popular face recognition app is Luxand – which was designed for security purposes, as well as for entertainment. The app can recognize faces found in live video streams, and it can memorize undetected faces for future identification. It also has more trivial uses, such as “zombifying” your face or predicting what your future child would look like.

Marketing

The face is the most powerful way to convey emotion, and market researchers often analyze facial expressions to determine how a person feels about a product. Facial recognition makes these analyses quicker and more affordable. By analyzing faces and identifying emotions such as surprise, enjoyment, and doubt, brands can build a stronger connection with consumers.

Help the Blind

Listerine has released a groundbreaking app in which blind people can use facial recognition to better understand social situations. For instance, the app will scan faces and recognize when somebody is smiling, thus alerting the user with a vibration.

Social Media

Social media platforms like Facebook use facial recognition technology to automatically recognize when a member appears in a photo. This makes it simpler for users to locate photos they are in and to tag other users in pictures.

Track School Attendance

Besides making schools safer, facial recognition technology has the potential to keep track of attendance. When physical attendance sheets are passed around, it’s easy for a student to sign an absent friend’s name. However, by implementing facial recognition tech, it will be next to impossible to ditch school without being caught. For instance, some Chinese schools use tablets to scan students’ faces to validate their identities and keep track of attendance.

Casinos

Casinos can use facial recognition technology to recognize when cheaters or advantage gamblers step on the casino’s premises. What’s more, they have the capability to identify visitors who are on self-exclusion lists. If members of these lists are caught gambling, the casinos would end up having to pay large fines – but manually comparing the identity of every visitor to self-exclusion lists can be time-consuming.

Banking & Secure Transactions

Face recognition technology can be used to make transactions more secure, for example, some retailers have begun using pay-by-face kiosks. These are much more secure than using credit cards or other existing payment methods, as faces are highly difficult to spoof. Another way face recognition makes banking more secure is by checking faces whenever somebody attempts to pay by card. Retail employees are usually trained to check a customer’s ID when they pay with a card – but in real life, this rarely happens. However, face recognition tech offers the chance for retailers to automatically validate identities, with no extra work from employees.

Facial Recognition Solutions from RecFaces

If you are ready to begin implementing facial recognition surveillance into your workplace, RecFaces has a host of solutions that will meet your needs. We develop biometric facial recognition systems that can solve real world business problems, provide better customer service, augment your security team, , and automate business processes. Some of our most popular products include:

• Id-Me: A software product that allows users to create and use biometric user templates. Its biometric identification speed is only 1.5 seconds.
• Id-Welcome: By using this product’s biometric facial identification, you can give personalized welcome messages to employees and visitors, raising the welcoming atmosphere of any environment.
• VxFaces: This biometric identification plugin is used for CCTV, VideoXpert, and access control systems. It is designed to increase the efficiency of security teams’ response time and investigations.

Besides these, we have many other products available at Recfaces.com. All of our products are highly beneficial when used in retail centers, banks, retail, business offices, educational institutions, transport facilities, and many more enterprises.

Face Recognition FAQ

What kind of data does facial recognition use?

A facial recognition system utilizes biometrics in order to map facial features snatched from a video or a photograph. It then compares the mapped facial features against a database of existing known faces and attempts to find a match.

What is bad about facial recognition?

Some people believe that facial recognition is a violation of privacy and that companies may misuse the data that they collect. Furthermore, while facial recognition has developed quickly over the last several years, it is still prone to error when photos are taken in dim lighting or from less than ideal angles.

Can you use facial recognition to find someone?

The average person or business won’t be able to use facial recognition technology to track someone down. Rather, you can use this technology to be notified when a specific person enters the premises of your business.