The Work to Make Facial Recognition Work

Greiffenhagen, Christian; Xu, Xinzhi; Reeves, Stuart

Abstract

Facial recognition technology (FRT) has become a significant topic in CSCW owing to widespread adoption and related criticisms: the use of FRT is often considered an assault on privacy or a kind of neo-phrenology. This discussion has revolved around uses of FRT for identification, which are often non-voluntary, in particular for surveillance wherein people are (by and large) unwittingly recognized by FRT systems. At the same time, we have also seen a rise of forms of FRT for verification (e.g., passport control or Apple’s Face ID), which typically are overt and interactive. In this paper we study an interactive FRT system used for guest check-in at a hotel in China. We show how guests and bystanders engage in ‘self-disciplining work’ by controlling their facial (and bodily) comportment both to get recognized and at times to avoid recognition. From our analysis we discuss the role of preparatory and remedial work, as well as dehumanization, and the importance of CSCW paying closer attention to the significance of interactional compliance for people using and bystanding facial recognition technologies.

Citation

Greiffenhagen, C., Xu, X., & Reeves, S. (2023). The Work to Make Facial Recognition Work. Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, 7(CSCW1), 1-30. https://doi.org/10.1145/3579531

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Nov 21, 2022
• Online Publication Date: Apr 16, 2023
• Publication Date: 2023-04
• Deposit Date: Dec 6, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 16, 2023
• Journal: Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction
• Print ISSN: 2573-0142
• Publisher: Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 7
• Issue: CSCW1
• Article Number: 98
• Pages: 1-30
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/3579531
• Keywords: face recognition, facial recognition technologies, biometric, identification, verification, ethnomethodology
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/14594554
• Publisher URL: https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3579531
• Additional Information: Published: 2023-04-16