Economic Questions:
The bill does not include government or nonprofits. A bill designed to protect consumers would know how much consumers worry about different entities having facial recognition data. Do consumer preferences justify regulating only commercial entities and not government and non-government, non-commercial groups?
Do we care that companies in other countries, particularly China, will be able to continue innovating in biometrics technology while U.S. companies are hampered?
Is there a way to encourage certain types of innovation while following the proposed law or, at a minimum, behaving in ways consistent with citizens’ preferences?
Summary: Introduced by Sens. Blunt (R-MO) and Schatz (D-HI). The legislation prohibits companies who use facial recognition technology from collecting and re-sharing data from identifying or tracking consumers without consent. The prohibitions do not apply to government.
Supporters say this gives consumers more control over what they share. “Our faces are our identities. They’re personal. So the responsibility is on companies to ask people for their permission before they track and analyze their faces,” said Senator Schatz. Prohibiting companies from using it also helps protect against potentially biased or discriminatory practices, according to Microsoft President Brad Smith.
References and Further Reading: