Face API changes due to Responsible AI

Question

Since 2019 I am using the Detect operation from Face API to retrieve information about faces bounding boxes, some landmarks, head pose and to detect some accessories.

Earlier this year I found this Azure blog post describing some changes that has been implemented in June for newer clients and that will be effective after June 30, 2023 for existing clients. Since my application relies heavily on Face API, I would like to prepare ahead of time for any change that may occur.

After reading the documentation on the Transparency Notes page, I still have two questions.

First, although I saw some pages saying that all Face API clients need to fill a form until June 2023, the Limited Access to Face API documentation states that the Face Detection operation is available without registration. Since I only call the DetectWithStreamAsync method, I would like to confirm that I really don't need to fill the registration form.

Secondly, the blog post says that some face details, like whether or not the person is smiling and the approximate age will not be available anymore. Although I'm not using these examples currently, I would like to confirm that the head pose, the face landmarks and the information about accessories (like the use of glasses, masks and headwear) will still be included in the response.

Also, I would like to know what would happen if I were to request some of the features that will be removed. For example, if I request the face approximate age, will the API return a failure response or will it respond successfully but without the age attribute?

Thank you in advance.

Answer 1

@Erick Teixeira Pires All existing customers using the face API should fill the form for continued access of all the features within a year of this announcement i.e before June 30th 2023.

Existing customers have one year to apply and receive approval for continued access to the facial recognition services based on their provided use cases.

DetectwithStreamAsync method also uses an operations parameter that verifies faces and it may fail in this scenario if you plan to continue without application. I would recommend submitting the application with details of all the features that you currently use and the face API service team would review and advise further if required.

All features that are planned for retirement will not be available to all customers and if the same is passed in the request the API call will fail. I hope this helps!!

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