Amazon on Wednesday announced a one-year ban on letting police use its facial recognition technology, calling for strong government regulations for its ethical use. The moratorium comes after repeated calls by critics and racial justice groups for Amazon’s cloud computing unit to stop providing police and immigration officials with tools that can be used to unfairly target people based on race. The announcement came after a coalition of racial justice groups this week launched an online petition calling for Amazon to cut all ties with police and US immigration officials. The petition takes aim at Amazon Web Services cloud computing unit’s “Rekognition” facial recognition technology and Ring surveillance cameras used for home security. Amazon’s “surveillance empire” could be used by police to target people by race, making the company complicit in such abuse, petition backers argued.
Ring cameras sold by Amazon are used for home security, but people can share access to surveillance video with police if they wish. Amazon said organizations such as the International Center for Missing and Exploited Children will be able to continue using Rekognition to help rescue human trafficking victims and reunite missing children with their families.
IBM this week said it no longer sells general purpose facial recognition software and is opposed to using such technology for racial profiling or mass surveillance. The century-old technology firm called for responsible national standards regarding how facial recognition systems should be used by police agencies. The ACLU hoped Microsoft and other technology companies would join Amazon and IBM with moves “toward the right side of history.”
The Amazon announcement came the same day that the brother of George Floyd, whose killing by police sparked worldwide protests against racism, made an emotional plea to the US Congress to “stop the pain” and pass reforms that reduce police brutality. One day after burying his brother in Houston, Philonise Floyd appeared in person before a House hearing, where he described the anguish of watching a viral video of George’s death and demanded lawmakers act to fix law enforcement problems including systemic racism. The five-hour-plus hearing came after congressional Democrats unveiled a package of reforms this week aimed at ending police brutality.
Source: DJ
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