Millions of US faces scanned without approval, rules for facial recognition needed

Students at UCLA forced the university to back down from plans to install facial recognition systems on campus buildings. But the technology is actively used by private companies, sometimes without people knowing. — Dreamstime/TNS

The powers that be at UCLA thought it was a good idea at the time – using state-of-the-art technology to scan students’ faces for gaining access to campus buildings. Students thought otherwise.

“The implementation of facial recognition technology would present a major breach of students’ privacy and make students feel unsafe on a campus they are supposed to call home,” the Daily Bruin said in an editorial last year.