How did facial recognition technology send the wrong man to jail where he was brutally attacked?
HOUSTON - It's a nightmare that became reality for one Houston man who was falsely identified by facial recognition software, thrown in jail and violently attacked.
So how can that happen? 61-year-old Harvey Eugene Murphy Jr. says he wants his story told, of being wrongfully arrested and raped in jail, because as his attorney explains, facial recognition technology misidentifying someone could happen to anyone.
"I've learned there are many cases around the country of people being convicted of crimes based on facial recognition software. I've learned that facial recognition software can be very faulty," says Murphy's Attorney Daniel Dutko.
We spoke with Tech Expert and Journalist Juan Guevara Torres, who says, "Facial recognition software is used everywhere. It's a standard now in security. We have it on Ring, for example, your house is running facial recognition."
Just when we're getting used to cameras capturing us everywhere we go, now that same technology is focusing on our faces.
"They study your features. They create a map of your face... Artificial Intelligence with facial recognition is being used in airports, social media, everywhere," explains Guevara Torres.
It's also being used in some department stores. Harvey Eugene Murphy Jr. is now suing Macy's and Sunglass Hut after a Houston Sunglass Hut was robbed at gunpoint in January 2022. Murphy's attorney says the two stores used facial recognition technology that wrongfully identified Murphy as the robber.
According to Dutko, Murphy proved he was in California at the time of the robbery and when he returned to Texas to renew his driver's license, Murphy was arrested at the DMV in October 2023. In jail, Murphy says he was brutally sexually assaulted by three men, leaving him with severe physical and mental injuries.
"Facial recognition is not perfect. It's prone to errors," says Guevara Torres, which is why facial recognition on your phone doesn't always select the right person when grouping pictures.
By the way, you know the selfies you touch up a bit?
"These filters are being used to scan your face, to create a map face. Your own face is being scanned, recognized, and used to train artificial intelligence systems on facial recognition," Guevara Torres explains.
The ACLU and several others have conducted studies showing minorities are more likely to be misidentified by facial recognition, in part because the poor quality of a darker, not properly lit photo, can't properly portray darker skin.
The way facial recognition technology works, the software creates what's called a wireframe face vector, and it's compared to images everywhere from social media sites to mugshots.
"These vectors that you have here are in specific positions, so it creates, not a unique, but a very distinctive map of your face," explains Guevara Torres, who says one way to possibly protect yourself from face recognition falsely accusing you of a crime is to use technology to fight it.
"It's important to share your location at all times with a trusted family member, because then you can prove a lot of things based on your location," says Guevara Torres.
Macy's says it doesn't comment on pending litigation. Sunglass Hut hasn't responded yet.