Abstract
In Steven Spielberg's science fiction film Minority Report, the film focuses on how technology is used in the future, as well as how society uses and understands that technology. Specifically, Minority Report focuses on eye-scanners that allow the police and corporations to track down and identify people on a daily basis. This movie identifies that there is a clear line that must be drawn between an individual's right to privacy and the law enforcement agency's ability to ensure safety. Like the technology in Minority Report, the use of facial recognition technology has led to much debate, mainly focused on privacy and civil liberties, but also encompassing constitutional and other legal concerns. These debates will raise very difficult questions regarding what a privacy right even entails and how much surveillance an individual is willing to allow with the hopes of a safer lifestyle. The discussion on how the United States utilizes facial recognition technology shows what a world looks like when unregulated surveillance techniques clash with tightly protected constitutional rights, while the discussion on how China utilizes facial recognition technology shows what happens when a government is left to surveil individuals with no repercussions at all. Both the United States and China are presently using facial recognition technology in a manner that is unacceptable. Individuals' rights and freedoms must be guaranteed to avoid a draconian surveillance state where all privacy and civil liberties disappear into the lens of a camera.
Repository Citation
Marq. Intell. Prop. & Innovation L. Rev.
Included in
Law and Society Commons, Legislation Commons, Privacy Law Commons