一項新的調查顯示，多數美國人支持執法部門使用面部識別技術，但對企業使用這種技術感到不安。

皮尤研究中心周四（9月5日）公布研究結果稱，56%受訪者表示其相信執法部門會負責任地使用面部識別技術。與此同時，59%受訪者表示，可以接受警察在公共場合使用這種技術評估安全威脅。

但是，美國人對使用面部識別軟件的公司持懷疑立場。只有36%受訪者相信科技公司會負責任地使用這種技術，而稱其相信廣告商的人只有17%。

調查結果顯示，就尖端技術而言，美國人對執法部門和企業的信任存在巨大差別。這種態度可能會對面部掃描技術未來的監管產生重大影響。

批評人士越來越多地發出警告稱，面部識別技術會對隱私產生影響，比如說這項技術能在公共場合識別守法公民。他們還擔心，警方可能會利用這種技術對少數族裔進行不恰當的側寫。

皮尤研究中心數據實驗室主任阿倫·史密斯解釋道，調查結果之所以會凸顯出這種分歧，是因為美國人愿意“放棄一部分隱私權和公民自由權”，但前提是他們覺得這樣可以更好地保護其免受恐怖襲擊或暴力犯罪。

史密斯說，“人們（對面部識別技術）的看法與其對執法部門以及更廣泛執法的信任度密切相關。”。

雖然面部識別技術已存在多年，但直到最近才得到更加廣泛的應用。得益于人工智能領域中的深度學習技術的創新，使得面部識別技術可以更準確地識別人臉。

過去幾年時間里，蘋果等科技巨頭已經把面部識別技術作為解鎖智能手機的一種安全措施， Facebook則依靠這種技術來自動識別照片中的人。與此同時，亞馬遜一直試圖將此技術出售給執法部門,以打擊犯罪行為。

然而，公眾對科技公司的看法正在滑坡，對其保護用戶數據的信任度也在下降。近年來，多家科技巨頭都在隱私方面犯下大錯，其中包括Facebook，該公司最終支付50億美元與美國聯邦貿易委員會就涉及政治咨詢公司劍橋分析的安全松懈問題達成了和解。

皮尤在6月份進行了此次調查，選取了4000多名具有代表性的美國成年人作為樣本。該調查是皮尤研究中心一項大規模研究的一部分內容，這項研究旨在分析公眾對數字隱私的看法。

此外，調查還考察了美國人如何看待面部識別技術準確性問題。總體而言，調查發現大多數人對這項技術的能力抱有樂觀看法。

73%的美國成年人“認為面部識別技術至少能在一定程度上有效地準確識別個體”。與此同時，63%的人相信這項技術可以準確地區分性別，認為該技術可以識別種族的人占61%。

事實上，許多研究都表明面部識別技術對白人男性的識別度高于其他群體（包括女性和非裔美國人）。今年8月，美國公民自由聯盟表示，面部識別技術在一次測試中將26名加州議員與“拘捕照片數據庫”中的照片進行了錯誤匹配，而在被誤認的政客中，超過一半是“有色人種議員”。

“我們發現，對這項技術聽得越多的人就越是相信其效果。” 史密斯說。“我想說，人們對這種技術的總體認知相當廣泛，但相對膚淺。”

與一般人群相比，非裔美國人對執法部門使用面部識別技術的懷疑態度更深。只有41%的黑人受訪者稱其信任執法部門使用這種技術，而在白人當中，這一比例為61%。

調查發現，與年長的美國人和共和黨人相比，年輕人和民主黨人對執法部門使用面部識別技術的信任度也比較低。（財富中文網）

譯者：艾倫

審校：夏林

Most Americans favor law enforcement using facial recognition technology, but they are uncomfortable with corporations using it, according to a new survey.

Fifty-six percent of respondents said they trust law enforcement to use facial-recognition technology responsibly, the Pew Research Center found in a study published on Thursday. Meanwhile, 59% said it was acceptable for police to use the technology to assess security threats in public.

But Americans are far more skeptical about companies using facial recognition software. Only 36% said they trust tech companies to use it responsibly while a minuscule 17% said they trust advertisers.

The findings show a big divide among Americans when it comes to who they trust with the cutting-edge technology. That attitude could have a big impact on any future regulation of the facial-scanning technology.

Critics are increasingly raising the alarm about its privacy implications, including its ability to identify law-abiding people in public. They also fear that police could use the technology to improperly profile minorities.

Aaron Smith, director of Data Labs for the Pew Research Center, explained the divide highlighted by survey's result by saying that Americans are willing to “give up elements of their privacy and civil liberty” if they feel it would better protect them from terrorist attacks or violent crime.

“People’s perceptions [about facial recognition] map closely to their views about law enforcement and their trust in law enforcement more broadly,” Smith said.

Although facial recognition technology has existed for years, it has recently gained wider use. Because of recent innovations in deep learning, a subset of artificial intelligence, it can more accurately identify people.

Over the past couple of years, tech giants like Apple have adopted the technology as a security measure for its customers to unlock their smartphones while Facebook relies on it to automatically identify people in photos. At the same time, Amazon has been trying to sell the technology to law enforcement for fighting crime.

However, the public perception of tech companies is declining along with trust in their ability to safeguard user data. In recent years, a number of tech giants have had significant privacy blunders including Facebook, which ended up paying $5 billion to settle accusations by the Federal Trade Commission about its lax security involving political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica.

Pew's survey, conducted in June, was based on responses from a representative sample of over 4,000 adult Americans. It was part of a larger Pew Research study analyzing public perception about digital privacy.

Additionally, the survey looked at how accurate Americans think facial recognition technology is. In general, it found that most have a rosy view of the technology’s capabilities.

Seventy-three percent of U.S. adults “think facial recognition technologies are at least somewhat effective at accurately identifying individual people.” Meanwhile, sixty-three percent said they believe the technology can accurately classify a person’s gender while 61% think it can identify race.

In fact, a number of studies have shown that facial recognition technology works better on white males than others including women and African-Americans. In August, the American Civil Liberties Union said facial-recognition technology incorrectly matched 26 California lawmakers with images from an "arrest photo database" during a test, with more than half of the misidentified politicians being "lawmakers of color."

“One of the things we found is that people who have heard more about the technology have higher views of the efficacies,” Smith said. “I would say people’s awareness of the technology overall is fairly broad but relatively shallow.”

In contrast to the general population, African Americans are more skeptical of law enforcement using facial recognition technology. Only forty-one percent of black respondents said they trust law enforcement with the technology compared to 61% of whites.

Other respondents, like younger adults and those who identified as Democrats, also expressed less trust in law enforcement’s use of facial recognition compared to older Americans and Republicans, the survey found.