Earlier this month, The White House announced its plans to develop an A.I. Bill of Rights to limit the harmful consequences from artificial intelligence. The plans focused heavily on the use of biometric information to identify, analyze, or categorize users. While currently in the information-gathering phase, here are the main takeaways from the RFI:
Terminology: We use “biometric information” to refer to any measurements or derived data of an individual's physical ( e.g., DNA, fingerprints, face or retina scans) and behavioral ( e.g., gestures, gait, voice) characteristics. For the purpose of this RFI, we are especially interested in the use of biometric information for:
Recognition. This includes the use of biometric information for verification (matching a claimed identity to a reference identity) and identification (real-time or post-facto identification of an individual or of all individuals in a crowd either in pursuit of a legal case or as part of broad surveillance in varied domains); and
Inference of cognitive and/or emotional state. This includes the use of biometric information for inference of cognitive and/or emotional states (such as attentiveness, mental fatigue, stress, anxiousness, fear, or cheerfulness).
Additionally, the Request for Information requested insights relating to:
Descriptions of use of biometric information for recognition and inference.
Procedures for and results of data-driven and scientific validation of biometric technologies.
Security considerations associated with a particular biometric technology.
Exhibited and potential harms of a particular biometric technology.
Exhibited and potential benefits of a particular biometric technology.
Governance programs, practices or procedures applicable to the context, scope, and data use of a specific use case.
If you would like to read the full RFI, you can find it here: Notice of Request for Information (RFI) on Public and Private Sector Uses of Biometric Technologies
About Us:
At the AI Bill of Rights, we are working on building a set of immutable user rights that apply not just to US citizens but to users around the world. We believe users should be afforded the same rights around the world even though every country may have its own digital constitution. A user in San Francisco can travel to Canada, France, Russia, and China in the span of a few minutes from their laptop or mobile phone. In a world where user data is global, so should their rights.
If you are interested in participating in our work, you can learn more here: What is an AI Bill of Rights? or Contact Us!