This information comes from the folks over at PatentBolt, which pointed out that the USPTO has published the patent and its various particulars today. Heading over to the patent office website, you can check out an abstract of the technology, as well as a detailed run down of the security feature and how it functions.

Google’s not the only company that has sought a patent for something like this, with Apple having pursued a patent for “face and presence detection” back in December of 2011. Although similar, both have their differences as well, and while Android was already utilizing the facial recognition at the time, Apple’s seemed to have originated with laptops being the primary device in mind.

Google’s facial recognition technology has been improved over time, although it is still very much a work-in-progress. In its earliest days, the security feature had its fair share of liabilities, with users being able to trick it using a photograph of the phone’s owner, for example. Additional measures were added to the technology to help prevent these issues, which are detailed in the patent, along with tidbits of info about other facial recognition creations.

[via Android Community]

The glasses emit a near-infrared set of LEDs that block facial recognition cameras from identifying wearers. According to Echizen, the glasses are the answer to what he refers to as the “invasion of privacy caused by photographs taken in secret.” Facial recognition software collects a lot of data about patrons. Not only can it identify you, but it can also figure out your body type and age.

These prototype glasses aren’t the most appealing, and they likely won’t be adopted by the masses, but if the idea takes off, we may see versions that are much smaller and more stylish than the ones we’re seeing today. Plus, in order to keep the LED lights on and working for this prototype privacy visor, you have to carry around a small power supply in your pocket.

Echizen says that he’s already received offers from companies that want to work toward mass-producing the visors in the future. Echizen says that he and his development team are working on “an improved version of the privacy visor without power supply consisting of transparent materials that reflect or absorb specific wavelength.”

According to the FTC, facial recognition tech has been adopted for variety of uses including online social networks to mobile apps and digital signs. The technology is able to do things such as determine an individual’s age range and gender to deliver targeted ads. The technology is also able to assess a viewers emotions to see if they are engaged in a video or a game.

Law enforcement also uses facial recognition technology to match faces and identify anonymous individuals in photographs or videos. The FTC recommends that companies that are using facial recognition technology design services with consumer privacy in mind. The FTC also recommends that companies develop security precautions for the information collected and develop methods for determining what information should be kept and what information should be disposed of.

The report also recommends that companies consider the sensitivity of information when developing products and services that use facial recognition. The report says, for example, that digital signs that use facial recognition technology should not be used in places where children congregate. The report also calls on companies using facial recognition technology to make it clear when the technology is being used and data about users is being collected.

Two specific scenarios are called out by the FTC that state when companies should get a consumer’s affirmative consent before collecting or using data from facial images. Those situations include:

First, they should obtain consent before using consumers’ images or any biometric data in a different way than they represented when they collected the data. Second, companies should not use facial recognition to identify anonymous images of a consumer to someone who could not otherwise identify him or her, without obtaining the consumer’s affirmative consent first.