Security News > 2020 > July > How well do face recognition algorithms identify people wearing masks?

Now that so many of us are covering our faces to help reduce the spread of COVID-19, how well do face recognition algorithms identify people wearing masks? The answer, according to a preliminary study by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, is with great difficulty.

Identify people wearing masks using facial recognition algorithms.

Even the best of the 89 commercial facial recognition algorithms tested had error rates between 5% and 50% in matching digitally applied face masks with photos of the same person without a mask.

The results were published as a NIST Interagency Report, the first in a planned series from NIST's Face Recognition Vendor Test program on the performance of face recognition algorithms on faces partially covered by protective masks.

"We have begun by focusing on how an algorithm developed before the pandemic might be affected by subjects wearing face masks. Later this summer, we plan to test the accuracy of algorithms that were intentionally developed with masked faces in mind."

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