What is AI Facial Recognition Technology?

If the police arrest you in Southern California and charge you with a crime based on artificial intelligence (AI) facial recognition technology, exercise your legal rights. Promptly contact a Los Angeles criminal defense attorney for the legal assistance you will need.

AI facial recognition technology is valuable in many criminal investigations but is not enough to charge you with a crime. In most cases, police agencies must corroborate a facial recognition match with additional evidence before obtaining a warrant or making an arrest.

We expect the police to make arrests based on reliable evidence, but sometimes, the police make assumptions or take shortcuts and make false arrests. Contact a Los Angeles criminal defense lawyer promptly if you are falsely arrested because of AI facial recognition technology.

Is AI Facial Recognition Technology Reliable?

AI facial recognition technology matches images of criminal suspects against images in law enforcement databases. However, these matches may not be reliable, especially when the photos being matched are of low quality.

The U.S. Justice Department has told local law enforcement agencies that AI facial recognition searches do not establish an identification or provide probable cause to make an arrest. More evidence is needed to confirm that a suspect is connected to criminal activity.

However, some people have been arrested and charged with crimes solely on the basis of AI facial recognition searches. The number of people arrested wrongly is not known because no law requires police agencies to record or report on their use of AI facial recognition technology.

How Does the Technology Work?

AI facial recognition technology presumes that our faces are unique biometric indicators. It compares two images to determine if they depict the same person or compares a picture of an unknown person against an image database to seek a possible identification.

Police agencies nationwide use this technology to identify persons in criminal investigations, including victims, witnesses, and suspects. However, AI facial recognition technology raises the following legal concerns:

  1. AI facial recognition searches have no scientific validity. The results may be erroneous and biased. Law enforcement agencies have already made wrongful arrests due to facial recognition misidentifications.
  2. In criminal cases, prosecutors may fail to disclose details about facial recognition searches to the defense. A lack of oversight and transparency regarding AI facial recognition is systemic and routine in California and most other states.
  3. AI facial recognition technology is a powerful surveillance tool. Surveillance cameras may capture images remotely and secretly, and the technology can track an individual’s real-time activities in violation of the Fourth Amendment.
  4. The quality of database photos, an algorithm’s accuracy, or the training of the person conducting the search may make it unreliable. An algorithm may exhibit race, sex, or age-based bias, placing people at risk of misidentification due to their demographics.

Is AI Facial Recognition Biased?

Most AI facial recognition systems are based on datasets that are predominantly male and white. A study by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has demonstrated that this bias leads to significantly higher false positive rates for women and people of color.

The 2019 NIST study also concluded that the technology works best for middle-aged white men. The accuracy rates were low for people of color, women, children, and the elderly.

Over a dozen large U.S. cities, including San Francisco, Minneapolis, and Boston, have banned the use of AI facial recognition technology due to its tendency to produce biased, inaccurate results.

Can AI Facial Recognition Technology Be Used in Your Defense?

If you are facing a criminal charge in or near Los Angeles, could your Los Angeles criminal defense attorney use AI facial recognition technology in your defense? The answer is “maybe.” A lawyer in Florida recently used the technology to locate a witness who exonerated his client.

Andrew Conlyn was charged in Fort Myers with vehicular homicide after a fatal car crash despite a witness statement – recorded by an officer’s bodycam at the scene – that Conlyn was the passenger the witness had rescued from the vehicle.

Fort Myers police officers failed to take the witness’s name or contact information, and the state prosecuted Conlyn for vehicular homicide on the basis of other evidence. Conlyn’s defense attorney was compelled to do the prosecution’s job of identifying and finding the eyewitness.

If AI Facial Recognition Technology is Used to Arrest You

If Southern California police officers arrest you on the basis of an AI facial recognition technology match, exercise your right to remain silent and your right to legal counsel. Take your case immediately to a Los Angeles criminal defense lawyer.

Your defense attorney may move to suppress AI facial recognition evidence. A motion to suppress asks a judge to prevent a prosecutor from introducing evidence. A judge does not allow suppressed evidence into a trial, and the jurors may not see that evidence.

If the state charges you with a crime, your defense attorney will investigate the case and negotiate with the prosecutor to reduce or drop the charge. If the charge against you cannot be dropped or reduced, and you are innocent, insist on your right to a jury trial.

However, if the state’s case against you is persuasive, taking a plea bargain (after consulting with your criminal defense attorney) may be your best option.

Attorney Douglas Miranda Will Fight for Your Rights

If AI facial recognition technology is used to charge you with a criminal offense in Southern California, you’ll need an attorney with substantial experience and a strong commitment to justice. Take your case to attorney Douglas Miranda at the Miranda Rights Law Firm.

Criminal defense attorney Douglas Miranda has represented thousands of clients in the Los Angeles area. He has considerable experience picking juries, negotiating with prosecutors, and offering his clients the strongest possible defense.

Attorney Douglas Miranda will defend you aggressively and bring your case to its best possible outcome. If you’re facing a criminal charge in Southern California, call the Miranda Rights Law Firm promptly at 213-255-5838 to arrange a no-cost, in-depth case evaluation. Se Habla español.