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Citizens express fraud concerns over deepfake technology

Should the current concerns about deepfake technology extend to facial recognition?

Facial recognition technology continues to advance. - Image © Tim Sandle
Facial recognition technology continues to advance. - Image © Tim Sandle

Modern societies are becoming increasingly dependent on identity verification. However, this does not mean that all members of society are fully conversant with the risks that are present. For instance, a new survey data from Incode reveals 64 percent of the U.S. population do not know what a deepfake is.

Deepfake refers to a type of artificial intelligence that is used to create convincing images, audio and video that differ from the original capture. Deepfakes can be used for legitimate purposes, such as replacing a deceased actor in a movie, or for amusing hoaxes. Deepfakes can also be used for criminal activities aimed a defrauding someone or using their identity.

The term, which describes both the technology and the resulting bogus content, is a portmanteau of deep learning and fake.

While a sizable portion of the U.S. population appear unaware of the deepfake concept, for those who are knowledgeable and who have expressed concern about the cybersecurity consequences, social media comes out top as the area of greatest concern.

One major case, reported by Forbes, was of a bank swindled out of $35 million when criminals used deepfake technology to impersonate the voice of a senior executive.

Here the same poll finds that 61 percent of the U.S. population who understand deepfakes believe social media to be the area most at risk of deepfakes. Of this subpopulation, 40 percent are afraid of someone making social media accounts in their name and catfishing people on the Internet.

Looming at these results, Ricardo Amper, CEO and founder of Incode tells Digital Journal about the dangers but also the benefits of facial recognition technology and the necessity of not conflating the two.

Amper remarks: “There are a lot of misconceptions about how facial recognition technology is currently used. In the past, reported mishaps on privacy issues made both businesses and consumers shy away from digital identity.”

A general definition of facial recognition technology is a system is a technology capable of matching a human face from a digital image or a video frame against a database of faces. The most common use is with security matters.

Amper moves to the topical issue of privacy, saying: “Admittedly, there have been instances where the user hasn’t been at the forefront of privacy. When you are using facial recognition technology, it’s essential to have trust. You must put the user first, which means getting their consent.”

It should be noted that Incode is an AI-based digital identity company.

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Written By

Dr. Tim Sandle is Digital Journal's Editor-at-Large for science news. Tim specializes in science, technology, environmental, business, and health journalism. He is additionally a practising microbiologist; and an author. He is also interested in history, politics and current affairs.

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