Speech, speaker and facial recognition

This interdisciplinary study assesses the opportunities and risks of speech, speaker and facial recognition systems. The study aims to create an overview of what these technologies can actually achieve. Major questions concern how accurately speech, speaker and facial recognition systems can identify individuals and subsequently verify identities as well as the extent to which conclusions on emotions, personal characteristics or health are based in scientific findings. Current and future areas of application are presented in the interest of gaining a clear picture of the technology. The aim is to show who is currently using these systems and to what purpose – and how this use could develop in future. An important aspect concerns how the general public sees the issue, and the study examines how Swiss citizens regard the use of these technologies in public and private spaces, and the extent to which they differentiate private and governmental uses. Of particular interest is whether users are aware that biometric data are being collected and used, and whether they understand what these data can reveal.
With regard to legal matters, the study examines whether action in general is necessary; it presents information on how these systems are currently regulated by law and assesses whether the sensitive nature of such data call for special regulatory measures. Lastly, the study aims to make a general assessment that serves as the basis for drawing conclusions, ideally laying the groundwork for formulating concrete recommendations on dealing with this issue. These recommendations are directed towards decision makers, in particular politicians.