Federal agencies concerned face masks will thwart facial recognition tech

The US Department of Homeland Security has raised concerns internally that face masks meant to protect against the spread of COVID-19 may interfere with facial recognition technology, The Intercept reported. It also appears worried about the use of face masks to evade law enforcement even after the COVID-19 pandemic is over.

A bulletin from May 22nd, which was drafted in conjunction with other federal agencies including Immigration and Customs Enforcement, discusses “the potential impacts that widespread use of protective masks could have on security operations that incorporate face recognition systems — such as video cameras, image processing hardware and software, and image recognition algorithms — to monitor public spaces during the...

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