Facial recognition bias frustrates Black asylum applicants to US, advocates say
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/feb/08/us-immigration-cbp-one-app-facial-recognition-biasFacial recognition bias frustrates Black asylum applicants to US, advocates say
Migrants from Africa and Haiti reportedly cannot utilize app to accept their photos, which is now required to apply for asylum
Melissa del Bosque in Tucson
Wed 8 Feb 2023 06.00 EST
The US government’s new mobile app for migrants to apply for asylum at the US-Mexico border is blocking many Black people from being able to file their claims because of facial recognition bias in the tech, immigration advocates say.
Non-profits that assist Black asylum seekers are finding that the app, CBP One, is failing to register many people with darker skin tones, effectively barring them from their right to request entry into the US.
People who have made their way to the south-west border from Haiti and African countries, in particular, are falling victim to apparent algorithm bias in the technology that the app relies on.
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Racial bias in face recognition technology has long been a problem. Increasingly used by law enforcement and government agencies to fill databases with biometric information including fingerprints and iris scans, a 2020 report by Harvard University called it the “least accurate” identifier, especially among darker-skinned women with whom the error rate is higher than 30%.
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(Systemic racism baked into the ‘tech will save us’ system.)
= new reply since forum marked as read
Against database photos taken over a long period, using older tech, lower resolutions, etc.
Pretty sure that's the inherent problem in play here. And perhaps user error ... it would not be at all surprising to me that darker skin tones require significantly more light in order to capture the details necessary, for example.
And I kinda doubt it's a giant racist conspiracy, personally 
But I am a white American programmer. In our shop we've had Indians, SE Asians, Blacks, Women, etc. And no most programmers world-wide are not white American men.
And just for starters regarding the programming piece .... we don't know from whom the government may've licensed the FR software, what that company's make-up is, racially/culturally, etc. Also FR software of the sort they'd be using likely doesn't rely on skin tones for anything. Because it's too easy to alter skin tone.
In the end, I try to not jump to conclusions that conveniently confirms my biases (i.e. systemic racism exists) without any actual hard evidence. Stupidity/incompetence and/or actual, real technical limitations is frankly more likely than "a conspiracy to screw over certain segments of the population" in my mind.
I could be wrong, what you suggest is possible, but my guess is ... racism isn't the reason for this problem.
You're free to suppose differently of course
