London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Aug 22, 2025

Facial recognition software biased against Asians and black people, major US government study finds

Tests on 189 algorithms from 99 manufacturers, who represent most of the industry, found higher number of incorrect matches for minorities than for white people. Use of facial recognition is set to widen at airports worldwide, and travellers may decide it’s worth the trade-off in accuracy if they can save a few minutes

Facial recognition software has a higher rate of incorrect matches between two photos for Asian and black people relative to white people, a United States government study has found.

The evidence of bias against minorities in the software comes as its use is set to expand at airport security checkpoints in Asia, Europe and the United States.

The US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) have been testing facial recognition technology at airports across the US, expecting it will become the preferred method to verify a passenger’s identity.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology researchers studied the performance of 189 algorithms from 99 manufacturers representing most of the industry. Some algorithms performed better than others, they concluded, meaning that it’s likely the industry can correct the problems.

The institute found that US-developed algorithms had the highest rate of incorrect matches, or false positives, for American Indians.

Researchers found a higher rate of false identifications of black women when matching their photos to an FBI database. Higher rates of mismatches increase the chance that a person could be falsely accused, the institute said.

Patrick Grother, a computer scientist at the institute and the report’s primary author, said some mismatches can be resolved with a second attempt, such as checking a passport. However, he said, “a false positive in a one-to-many search puts an incorrect match on a list of candidates that warrant further scrutiny”.

The TSA has been testing facial recognition software at airport checkpoints in Los Angeles and Las Vegas in the United States, matching live images of passengers to the photos on their identity documents. Participation in those test runs was strictly voluntary.

“TSA’s facial recognition system will be for passenger identification and to determine the appropriate level of screening only,” spokesman Mark Howell said. “TSA understands the variety of concerns related to facial recognition match performance and takes this issue seriously.”

CBP uses the technology to screen arriving international passengers at 16 US airports and exiting international passengers at 26 US airports. Additionally, CBP uses it for entry at cruise ports in New York, New Jersey, Florida and Washington state.

Both agencies plan to expand the use of the technology to screen passengers. It could speed up the process, allowing for shorter waiting times for passengers and enabling security personnel to better focus their attention.

“Facial recognition is going to replace that interaction with the TSA officer,” said Brian Jackson, a security researcher at the Rand Corporation, a policy research organisation.

Grother’s team used an assortment of more than 18 million images of about 8.5 million people culled from files of the US State Department, the US Department of Homeland Security and the FBI.

The research adds to concern about the accuracy of the technology, which has potential implications beyond airport security.

Last year, the American Civil Liberties Union used software developed by Amazon to match photos of all 535 members of US Congress against a database of 25,000 publicly available arrest photos.

The software incorrectly matched 28 lawmakers with photos of people who had been arrested. Nearly 40 per cent of those false matches were non-white lawmakers, though minorities make up only 20 per cent of Congress.

Patricia Cogswell, the TSA’s acting deputy administrator, told US lawmakers in October that the agency wanted “a very highly probable match” in its developing biometric screening process.

“We are not matching you against mugshots,” she told a US House of Representatives subcommittee on homeland security. “If you don’t match, we go back to the regular process.”

Though there may be lingering concerns about the accuracy of facial recognition technology, travellers may decide it’s worth the trade-off if they can save a few minutes.

“Opting out will always have a time cost,” Jackson said. “There’s certainly a convenience benefit to it.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Bunkers, Billions and Apocalypse: The Secret Compounds of Zuckerberg and the Tech Giants
Ukraine Declares De Facto War on Hungary and Slovakia with Terror Drone Strikes on Their Gas Lifeline
Animated K-pop Musical ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Becomes Netflix’s Most-Watched Original Animated Film
New York Appeals Court Voids Nearly $500 Million Civil Fraud Penalty Against Trump While Upholding Fraud Liability
Elon Musk tweeted, “Europe is dying”
Far-Right Activist Convicted of Incitement Changes Gender and Demands: "Send Me to a Women’s Prison" | The Storm in Germany
Hungary Criticizes Ukraine: "Violating Our Sovereignty"
Will this be the first country to return to negative interest rates?
Child-free hotels spark controversy
North Korea is where this 95-year-old wants to die. South Korea won’t let him go. Is this our ally or a human rights enemy?
Hong Kong Launches Regulatory Regime and Trials for HKD-Backed Stablecoins
China rehearses September 3 Victory Day parade as imagery points to ‘loyal wingman’ FH-97 family presence
Trump Called Viktor Orbán: "Why Are You Using the Veto"
Horror in the Skies: Plane Engine Exploded, Passengers Sent Farewell Messages
MSNBC Rebrands as MS NOW Amid Comcast’s Cable Spin-Off
AI in Policing: Draft One Helps Speed Up Reports but Raises Legal and Ethical Concerns
Shame in Norway: Crown Princess’s Son Accused of Four Rapes
Apple Begins Simultaneous iPhone 17 Production in India and China
A Robot to Give Birth: The Chinese Announcement That Shakes the World
Finnish MP Dies by Suicide in Parliament Building
Outrage in the Tennis World After Jannik Sinner’s Withdrawal Storm
William and Kate Are Moving House – and the New Neighbors Were Evicted
Class Action Lawsuit Against Volkswagen: Steering Wheel Switches Cause Accidents
Taylor Swift on the Way to the Super Bowl? All the Clues Stirring Up Fans
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Apple Expands Social Media Presence in China With RedNote Account Ahead of iPhone 17 Launch
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Cambridge Dictionary Adds 'Skibidi,' 'Delulu,' and 'Tradwife' Amid Surge of Online Slang
Bill Barr Testifies No Evidence Implicated Trump in Epstein Case; DOJ Set to Release Records
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
The CEO Who Replaced 80% of Employees for the AI Revolution: "I Would Do It Again"
Emails Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Character.ai Bets on Future of AI Companionship
China Ramps Up Tax Crackdown on Overseas Investments
Japanese Office Furniture Maker Expands into Bomb Shelter Market
Intel Shares Surge on Possible U.S. Government Investment
Hurricane Erin Threatens U.S. East Coast with Dangerous Surf
EU Blocks Trade Statement Over Digital Rule Dispute
EU Sends Record Aid as Spain Battles Wildfires
JPMorgan Plans New Canary Wharf Tower
Zelenskyy and his allies say they will press Trump on security guarantees
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Escalating Clashes in Serbia as Anti-Government Protests Spread Nationwide
The Drought in Britain and the Strange Request from the Government to Delete Old Emails
Category 5 Hurricane in the Caribbean: 'Catastrophic Storm' with Winds of 255 km/h
"No, Thanks": The Mathematical Genius Who Turned Down 1.5 Billion Dollars from Zuckerberg
The surprising hero, the ugly incident, and the criticism despite victory: "Liverpool’s defense exposed in full"
Digital Humans Move Beyond Sci-Fi: From Virtual DJs to AI Customer Agents
YouTube will start using AI to guess your age. If it’s wrong, you’ll have to prove it
×