The CEO of Viisage Technology, Tom Colatosti, said that the brouhaha over the use of his company's FaceFinder software at the game was overblown. I just think that when people said there was spying it's very outrageous and inflammatory language. There's a big difference between spying and being observed. InnoVentry uses the software in check-cashing machines that cater to customers that don't have enough money to open bank accounts. He points to a London borough where residents applauded the installation of over 200 surveillance cameras that use face scanning to allow police to patrol the streets remotely.
City officials say the cameras have greatly reduced crime in the area.
Privacy advocates see it differently. The ACLU's Steinhardt envisions a society where the browsing habits of anonymous shoppers are watched by marketers using video cameras and biometric databases. Although most arguments against biometrics are still hypothetical, they need to be debated, he said. There may not be a specific situation yet, but you can see the handwriting on the wall and if you wait until the technology has advanced, it's too late to go back and fix it. The problem is that the technology is evolving at the speed of light, while American legislators are still scratching their heads over the meaning of it all.