How strong data privacy could balkanize the future of tech
As Politico reported this week, the European Union’s impending, strict data protections could raise standards worldwide. Want to do business with the EU? You’d better have a strong emphasis on individual control over personal data, offer a right to erasure, and everything else that comes with the regulations known as GDPR.
The Politico article presents this as a form of European ‘soft power’ — forcing other countries to comply with an EU worldview. It could end up like that, but there’s another potential outcome, too.
Face recognition: a geopolitical issue
In the USA, Facebook has been rolling out all sorts of features powered by face recognition technology for years. It can alert you when someone uploads a photo of you, even if they don’t tag you. It can automatically tag photos with who’s in them. Google, meanwhile, has a hugely popular app that shows you what work of art you look like.
None of these features are available in the EU.
Excluding these features from Europe dates back seven years, predating the new data regulations. What the new GDPR does is clarify that face recognition is either illegal or at least a massive legal headache in many situations.
