Normalizing Facial Recognition Technology and The End of Obscurity

ABSTRACT This article argues that facial recognition technology is the most dangerous surveillance tool ever invented. Given the unique threats this morally suspect tool poses to privacy, civil liberties, human flourishing, and democracy, the only appropriate response is a ban. To justify our position, we explain why facial recognition is distinctive among biometrics, clarify how even seemingly benign and positive uses of the technology can trigger dangerous normalization dynamics, and pinpoint why current United States laws (with reverberations in the EU’s AI Act) are designed to accelerate a slippery slope that makes mass surveillance nearly inevitable. Our most fundamental contribution lies in demonstrating how the concept of “obscurity” connects all three arguments: facial recognition algorithms technologically eviscerate obscurity, normalization psychologically undermines it, and the law doctrinally abandons it - a perfect storm that only prohibition can stop.

KEYWORDS Facial Recognition Technology - Obscurity - Privacy - Normalization

TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Introduction. – 2. Facial Recognition Technology: A Uniquely Powerful Surveillance Tool. – 3. Normalizing Facial Recognition Technology. – 4. How the Law Facilitates Normalizing Facial Recognition. – 5. What Should Be Done?. – 6. Conclusion