Facebook, Wal-Mart and other companies planning to use facial-recognition scans for security or tailored sales pitches are working to build the rules for how images and online profiles can be used, according to Newsday.
The U.S. Department of Commerce will start meeting with industry and privacy advocates in February to draft a voluntary code of conduct for using facial recognition products, and the draft will be ready by June.
In Britain, Tesco Plc is installing face-scanning technology at its gasoline stations to determine customers’ ages and gender so tailored advertisements can be delivered to them on screens at checkouts, the article says. Retailers may be able to compare customers’ images from security cameras with law enforcement databases.
The U.S. Commerce Department says the code of conduct will only apply to commercial use, not to how law enforcement or spy agencies may use it.