The Biometrics Institute is disappointed that talks in Washington between privacy advocates and corporate representatives on facial recognition have broken down.The US National Telecommunication and Information Administration (NTIA) last February established a Privacy Multistakeholder Consultation regarding a voluntary code of conduct for companies using Facial Recognition Technology.However, last week privacy advocate groups including the American Civil Liberties Union, Electronic Frontier Foundation, and Center for Democracy and Technology quit the talks citing an alleged reluctance of commercial enterprises to obtain consumers' permission to gather biometric data.”Informed consent and notice remain fundamental principles for the Biometrics Institute to build trust in the use of biometric technologies”, said Isabelle Moeller, Chief Executive of the Biometrics Institute, in a statement.”The Biometrics Institute has been actively promoting the responsible use of biometrics since its foundation in 2001. Our Privacy Guideline highlights principles such as informed consent. Creating and sustaining citizen's and the public's trust in biometric technologies is essential”.Since the talks broke down, software giant Microsoft has said that it also believes that people should be asked for permission before their facial data is taken.Juliet Lodge, a member of the Biometrics Institute Privacy Expert Group, added: “This discussion again raises the fundamental issue of the covert versus overt enrolment of biometrics. The reluctance of commercial enterprises to obtain consumers' permission to capture and exploit their biometrics is disturbing as they are not citing specific objective reasons for their behaviour in the same way as the public sector e.g. preventing terrorism, crime and protecting borders etc.”One can only assume that they wish to use these mass enrolments purely for commercial gain and that does not balance particularly well with the civil liberty arguments that we are familiar with. The big issue around trust stems not from the roll out of technologies but from the lack of knowledge and consent about mining linkage.”

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