The Problem of Automated Facial Recognition Technologies in Brazil: Social Countermovements and the New Frontiers of Fundamental Rights

Authors

  • Michel R. O. Souza Brazilian Institute of Consumer Defense (Idec)
  • Rafael A. F. Zanatta Data Privacy Brasil Research Association and University of São Paulo

Keywords:

Facial Recognition Technology, Fundamental Rights, Social Movements, Brazil

Abstract

This article analyzes the characteristics of automated facial recognition technologies and their response by civil society organizations in Brazil. We analyze two arguments in this debate: the endemic bias argument, which seeks to correct unjust and potentially racist consequences, and the endemic oppression argument, which identifies a set of facilitators of systematic violation of fundamental rights. We present the concept of countermovements to explain the possibilities of legal contestation of the dissemination of facial recognition and explain how the argument about recognition can move from the logic of bias to that of oppression, with the possibility of changing the regulation to ban this technology in certain uses.

Author Biographies

Michel R. O. Souza, Brazilian Institute of Consumer Defense (Idec)

Lawyer at the Brazilian Institute of Consumer Defense (Idec). He holds a BA in Law from the State University of Maringá (UEM), an MA in Law from the University of São Paulo (USP), an LL.M. in Comparative Law and Economics from the International University College of Turin (IUC), and a PhD in Law from USP.

Rafael A. F. Zanatta, Data Privacy Brasil Research Association and University of São Paulo

Director of Data Privacy Brasil Research Association. He is a PhD candidate at the Institute of Energy and Environment of the University of São Paulo (USP) and holds an MA in Law from USP, an LL.M. in Comparative Law and Economics from the International University College of Turin (IUC) and a BA in Law from the State University of Maringá (UEM).

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Published

2021-06-30

Issue

Section

Theoretical Foundations of Human Rights