What happened

US-based IntelliVision falsely advertised its facial recognition system as having one of the highest accuracy rates in the market and claimed it operated without gender or racial bias, according to a  Federal Trade Commisison (FTC) complaint. 

The agency found the company did not have sufficient evidence to support these assertions, which included claims of training its algorithms on millions of images when they were actually trained on a much smaller dataset of about 100,000 images with generated variants. 

The proposed order mandates that IntelliVision must refrain from making any unverified claims regarding the accuracy, effectiveness or bias-free performance of its software unless supported by competent and reliable evidence.

Why it happened

The FTC's actions stem from ongoing concerns over deceptive advertising and marketing practices in artificial intelligence and biometric technologies.

The case is part of a broader initiative to ensure companies adhere to truthful advertising principles, particularly in sectors where technology can significantly impact privacy and civil rights.