facial recognition system

Majority of Facial Recognition Systems Are Less Accurate For People of Color, Federal Study Finds

Native Americans had the highest rates of false positives, while African-American women were most likely to be misidentified in a law enforcement database.

A new study, released by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) on Thursday, finds that a majority of commercial facial recognition systems are less accurate when identifying people of color, particularly African-Americans, Native Americans and Asians.

The federal agency conducted tests on 189 facial recognition algorithms from 99 developers, including systems from Microsoft, Chinese intelligence company Megvii and more. Systems from Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google were not tested because none of the companies submitted algorithms to the study, according to The New York Times.

Algorithms developed in the U.S. showed high rates of false positives relative to images of white people, with Native Americans having the highest rates of false positives.

“While it is usually incorrect to make statements across algorithms, we found empirical evidence for the existence of demographic differentials in the majority of the face recognition algorithms we studied,” Patrick Grother, a NIST computer scientist and the report’s primary author, said in a statement. “While we do not explore what might cause these differentials, this data will be valuable to policymakers, developers and end users in thinking about the limitations and appropriate use of these algorithms.”

Notably, the study found that algorithms developed in Asia did not demonstrate the same “dramatic” difference in false positives between Asian and Caucasian faces. Grother said that although the study does not explore the causes behind the false positives, the issue could be that American algorithms are using data sets with primarily Caucasian faces to train their facial recognition systems, making it difficult for those algorithms to accurately identify people of color.

“These results are an encouraging sign that more diverse training data may produce more equitable outcomes, should it be possible for developers to use such data,” Grother said.

On a FBI database of 1.6 million domestic mugshots, the report found higher rates of false positives for African-American women. The accuracy issue for law enforcement particularly concerns civil liberties groups who argue that the facial recognition algorithms, still in their infancy, could lead to false accusations, arrests and potential imprisonment.

“One false match can lead to missed flights, lengthy interrogations, watch list placements, tense police encounters, false arrests or worse,” Jay Stanley, a policy analyst at the American Civil Liberties Union, said in a statement. “Government agencies including the F.B.I., Customs and Border Protection and local law enforcement must immediately halt the deployment of this dystopian technology.”

The study was published as towns and states across the country consider issuing moratoriums on government use of facial recognition. California will implement a three-year moratorium starting in 2020, and towns in Massachusetts have banned law enforcement use of the systems.

Meanwhile, U.S. Customs and Border Protection was pressured to drop plans to expand mandatory facial recognition scans to Americans entering and exiting the country. The practice is already standard for foreign travelers coming into and leaving the U.S.

About the Author

Haley Samsel is an Associate Content Editor for the Infrastructure Solutions Group at 1105 Media.

Featured

  • Pragmatism, Productivity, and the Push for Accountability in 2025-2026

    Every year, the security industry debates whether artificial intelligence is a disruption, an enabler, or a distraction. By 2025, that conversation matured, where AI became a working dimension in physical identity and access management (PIAM) programs. Observations from 2025 highlight this turning point in AI’s role in access control and define how security leaders are being distinguished based on how they apply it. Read Now

  • Report: Cyber Attackers Continue to Turn to AI-Based Tools to Avoid Detection

    Comcast Business recently released its 2025 Cybersecurity Threat Report, a comprehensive analysis of 34.6 billion cybersecurity events detected between June 1,2024 and May 31, 2025. Now in its third year, the report offers business leaders a unique perspective into the evolving threat landscape and provides actionable insights to help organizations strengthen their defenses and align cybersecurity with business risk. Read Now

  • Axis Communications Creates AI-powered Video Surveillance Orchestra

    What if cameras could not only see the world, but interpret it—and respond like orchestra musicians reading sheet music: instantly, precisely, and in perfect harmony? That’s what global network technology leader Axis Communications set to find out. Read Now

  • Just as Expected

    GSX produced a wonderful tradeshow earlier this week. Monday was surprisingly strong in the morning, and the afternoon wasn’t bad at all. That’s Monday’s results and asking attendees to travel on Sunday. Just a quick hint, no one wants to give up their weekend to travel and set up an exhibit booth. I’m just saying. Read Now

    • Industry Events
    • GSX
  • NOLA: The Crescent City

    Twenty years later we finds ourselves in New Orleans. Twenty years ago the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina forced exhibitors and attendees to look elsewhere for tradeshow floor space. Read Now

    • Industry Events
    • GSX

New Products

  • EasyGate SPT and SPD

    EasyGate SPT SPD

    Security solutions do not have to be ordinary, let alone unattractive. Having renewed their best-selling speed gates, Cominfo has once again demonstrated their Art of Security philosophy in practice — and confirmed their position as an industry-leading manufacturers of premium speed gates and turnstiles.

  • A8V MIND

    A8V MIND

    Hexagon’s Geosystems presents a portable version of its Accur8vision detection system. A rugged all-in-one solution, the A8V MIND (Mobile Intrusion Detection) is designed to provide flexible protection of critical outdoor infrastructure and objects. Hexagon’s Accur8vision is a volumetric detection system that employs LiDAR technology to safeguard entire areas. Whenever it detects movement in a specified zone, it automatically differentiates a threat from a nonthreat, and immediately notifies security staff if necessary. Person detection is carried out within a radius of 80 meters from this device. Connected remotely via a portable computer device, it enables remote surveillance and does not depend on security staff patrolling the area.

  • Unified VMS

    AxxonSoft introduces version 2.0 of the Axxon One VMS. The new release features integrations with various physical security systems, making Axxon One a unified VMS. Other enhancements include new AI video analytics and intelligent search functions, hardened cybersecurity, usability and performance improvements, and expanded cloud capabilities