Federal Trade Commission Protecting America's Consumers

The Federal Trade Commission hosted a workshop in Washington, DC on December 8, 2011, exploring facial recognition technology and the privacy and security implications raised by its increasing use. Facial recognition technology has been adopted in a variety of new contexts, ranging from online social networks to digital signs and mobile apps. The FTC workshop gathered consumer protection organizations, academics, business and industry representatives, privacy professionals, and others to examine the use of facial recognition technology and related privacy and security concerns. The workshop was free and open to the public. A webcast of the proceedings is available here.

Comments

Interested parties are invited to submit written comments electronically or in paper form. Submission of comments should be captioned "Face Facts: A Forum on Facial Recognition, Project No. P115406." Please note that your comment—including your name and your state—will be placed on the public record of this proceeding, including on the publicly accessible FTC Web site, at www.ftc.gov/os/publiccomments.shtm. Because comments will be made public, they should not include any sensitive personal information, such as any individual's Social Security number; date of birth; driver's license number or other state identification number, or foreign country equivalent; passport number; financial account number; or credit or debit card number. Comments also should not include any sensitive health information, such as medical records or other individually identifiable health information. In addition, comments should not include any ''[t]rade secrets and commercial or financial information obtained from a person and privileged or confidential,'' as provided in Section 6(f) of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. 46(f), and Commission Rule 4.10(a)(2), 16 CFR 4.10(a)(2). Comments containing material for which confidential treatment is requested must be filed in paper form, must be clearly labeled ''Confidential,'' and must comply with FTC Rule 4.9(c), 16 CFR 4.9(c).1 Because paper mail addressed to the FTC is subject to delay due to heightened security screening, please consider submitting your comments in electronic form. Comments filed in electronic form should be submitted at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/facialrecognition following the instructions on the web-based form. If this Notice appears at www.regulations.gov/search/index.jsp you may also file an electronic comment through that website. The Commission will consider all comments forwarded to it by regulations.gov.

A comment filed in paper form should include the reference "Face Facts: A Forum on Facial Recognition, Project No. P115406" both in the text of the comment and on the envelope, and should be mailed or delivered to the following address:

Federal Trade Commission
Office of the Secretary
Room H–113 (Annex P)
600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW.
Washington, DC 20580

The FTC is requesting that comments filed in paper form be sent by courier or overnight service, if possible, because U.S. postal mail in the Washington, DC area and at the Commission is subject to delay due to heightened security precautions. The FTC Act and other laws the Commission administers permit the collection of public comments to consider and use in this proceeding as appropriate. The Commission will consider all timely and responsive public comments it receives on or before January 31, 2012, whether filed in paper or electronic form. Comments received will be available to the public on the FTC website, to the extent practicable, at http://www.ftc.gov/os/publiccomments.shtm. As a matter of discretion, the Commission makes every effort to remove home contact information of individuals before their comments are placed on the FTC Web site. More information, including routine uses permitted by the Privacy Act, may be found in the FTC's privacy policy, at http://www.ftc.gov/ftc/privacy.shtm.

FN 1 The comment must be accompanied by an explicit request for confidential treatment, including the factual and legal basis for the request, and must identify the specific portions of the comment to be withheld from the public record. The request will be granted or denied by the Commission's General Counsel, consistent with applicable law and the public interest. See 16 CFR 4.9(c).

FTC PRIVACY POLICY

For additional information, including routine uses permitted by the Privacy Act, see the Commission's comprehensive Privacy Policy.

DISABILITY ACCOMMODATIONS

The Conference Center is accessible to people with disabilities. If you need an accommodation related to a disability, please contact Carrie McGlothin at cmcglothlin@ftc.gov or 202-326-3388. Such requests should include a detailed description of the accommodations needed and a way to contact you if we need more information. Please provide advance notice.