Abstract

I began my career in biometrics nearly 25 years ago, when face recognition felt like a constrained capability. Today, the technology has expanded far beyond those original assumptions, and its real-world consequences are impossible to ignore, including documented cases of wrongful arrests triggered by face recognition "leads." At the same time, consent has eroded as images are scraped from the public web and stored in large-scale face recognition databases, enabling identification at scale without individuals' knowledge or permission. Even more concerning is the rise of privatized surveillance ecosystems, where public-facing cameras on private property can generate investigative leads that flow directly to police and influence arrest decisions. Looking ahead, consumer devices like smart glasses make persistent capture-and potential "surveillance glasses"-increasingly accessible, accelerating adoption faster than governance and ethical norms can keep up. The talk closes with a central question for researchers, practitioners, and students alike: Are we ready for the technological future we are creating?

About the Speaker

Dr. Michael King joined Florida Institute of Technology's Harris Institute for Assured Information as a Research Scientist in 2015 and holds a joint appointment as Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. He also serves as a Distinguished Lecturer for the IEEE Biometrics Council. Prior to joining academia, Dr. King served for 14 years as a scientific research and program management professional in the United States Intelligence Community. He has been invited to brief the Director of National Intelligence, Congressional staffers, science advisers, and members of the Defense Science Board and Intelligence Science Board. Dr. King received his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in 2001, and his research interests include biometrics, cyber identity, and machine learning.