The US government's face-recognition app, Mobile Fortify, is being used to identify and detain people without reliable verification of their identities. According to records reviewed by WIRED, the app was not designed for this purpose and has been deployed without proper scrutiny of its privacy implications.
Mobile Fortify is a biometric tool used by US immigration agents in towns and cities across the country. Despite DHS repeatedly framing it as a tool for identifying people through facial recognition, the app does not actually "verify" identities - it only generates candidate matches that require human review.
The app's technology was developed by NEC Corporation of America, a Japanese multinational. Testing by federal scientists showed face-recognition accuracy drops sharply when images are taken outside controlled settings, such as in real-world conditions.
Federal guidelines typically require a privacy assessment when an agency deploys a new technology that collects identifiable information about the public or materially changes how, where, or from whom that data is collected. However, DHS has dismantled policies and oversight checks that had constrained the use of facial recognition.
The app has been used to scan the faces of not only "targeted individuals" but also people later confirmed to be US citizens and others who were observing or protesting enforcement activity. Reporting has documented federal agents telling citizens they were being recorded with facial recognition and that their faces would be added to a database without consent.
Civil liberties groups say this technology is invasive, can produce false positives, and undermines the government's authority. They call for meaningful oversight of its use.
Mobile Fortify is a biometric tool used by US immigration agents in towns and cities across the country. Despite DHS repeatedly framing it as a tool for identifying people through facial recognition, the app does not actually "verify" identities - it only generates candidate matches that require human review.
The app's technology was developed by NEC Corporation of America, a Japanese multinational. Testing by federal scientists showed face-recognition accuracy drops sharply when images are taken outside controlled settings, such as in real-world conditions.
Federal guidelines typically require a privacy assessment when an agency deploys a new technology that collects identifiable information about the public or materially changes how, where, or from whom that data is collected. However, DHS has dismantled policies and oversight checks that had constrained the use of facial recognition.
The app has been used to scan the faces of not only "targeted individuals" but also people later confirmed to be US citizens and others who were observing or protesting enforcement activity. Reporting has documented federal agents telling citizens they were being recorded with facial recognition and that their faces would be added to a database without consent.
Civil liberties groups say this technology is invasive, can produce false positives, and undermines the government's authority. They call for meaningful oversight of its use.
. I mean, who thought it was a good idea to use facial recognition on everyday citizens without their consent? It's like they're fishin' for trouble. The fact that it wasn't designed for this purpose and has been deployed without proper scrutiny is just mind-boggling. What's next? They'll be scan-in' our faces at the grocery store 
. And those false positives? That's a recipe for disaster. I'm all for security, but not at the expense of our personal freedom. We need to keep our government in check, not let 'em run wild with tech that can be misused 
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What is happening in the US is straight up creepy! This facial recognition app is literally being used to scan people's faces without their consent just because they're protesting or living in a 'targeted area'. Like, what even is that? The government has no right to be snooping on its citizens like this. And don't even get me started on how the tech itself isn't even reliable - accuracy drops off a cliff when you try to use it outside of some controlled lab setting. This is a total invasion of privacy and trust, and I'm low-key terrified for everyone who's not getting 'verified'. 
and what about people who were just minding their own biz, caught up in enforcement activity? shouldn't they be free to go?
This whole thing is giving me major "Minority Report" vibes from 2002 
. I mean, who needs to identify people without proper verification? It sounds like they're trying to catch "slippery fish" but really just end up catching innocent bystanders 
. And with the app's accuracy dropping sharply in real-world conditions... yeah, that's a big red flag 
. The whole thing feels like a recipe for a major disaster 
. We need to make sure we're using these biometric tools responsibly and with some actual oversight 
.
I'm getting some major concerns about Mobile Fortify from what I've read... How do we trust that it's not just being used to spy on ppl without consent? 
The fact that it can produce false positives is a huge red flag - it could lead to innocent people getting detained or even arrested. And the lack of oversight from DHS is really worrying, I mean who's gonna hold them accountable if they're using this app for some shady purposes?
Can you imagine walking down the street and getting detained by the cops just 'cause they matched your face with some random pic from 5 years ago? 
We need stricter rules in place to ensure this technology isn't used to infringe on our rights.
facial recognition tech not designed for detention, but devs just rush it out anyway. 1 in 5 matches are false positives 
we need more transparency, not less 
. We need some serious oversight here, ASAP! 
. the fact that it was deployed without proper scrutiny of its privacy implications is just another example of how our government doesn't care about our rights 
It's not like DHS is being secretive or anything (oh wait, they are 
). The whole thing reeks of lack of accountability and oversight. We need some serious checks in place before this tech is used on US citizens. What if it's used to wrongly identify innocent people?! 
I'm really worried about this face-recognition app being used by US immigration agents. It seems so easy to misidentify people or record innocent bystanders. 
It's all about respecting individual rights, you know? 
That's just gonna lead to more errors and false positives, right? 
. It's all about control, you know? They're just trying to chill us down and make us feel uncomfortable 
.
. Like, someone needs to hold DHS accountable for how they're using this stuff 
. Can't have them just running around with a facial recognition app without any checks in place