Amazon to extend ban on police use of face recognition tech
Amazon to extend t ban on police use of face recognition tech
Amazon is extending its ban on the utilization of its facial recognition tools for police, amid persistent issues of bias found in the technology.
The tech giant last June announced it had been implementing a one-year moratorium on police use of its technology, saying the pause could give Congress time to enact safeguards against misuse of facial recognition.
The company confirmed Tuesday an extension of that ban "until further notice" without elaborating.
Last year's maneuver came amid widespread protests above police brutality and concerns that facial recognition technology is flawed, especially on analyzing top features of African Americans.
Activists also mention the technology tools may use algorithms which discriminate, intentionally or perhaps not, against Black persons.
Activists have targeted Amazon Web Offerings cloud processing unit's "Rekognition" facial acknowledgement technology and Band surveillance cameras used for home security. It was not yet determined the amount to which police possess used the systems.
Amazon last year called for governments to set up place "stronger regulations to govern the ethical make use of facial recognition technology."
Its ban was followed by Microsoft and IBM, which made similar announcements.
Last week, a coalition of activist groups needed Amazon to permanently stop selling its Rekognition system and found on Tuesday said the business should invest in scrapping the system.
"Facial acknowledgement technology is as well dangerous for this to be applied at the whims of companies like Amazon," explained Evan Greer of the activist group Struggle for the Future, among the groups in the coalition.
Source: japantoday.com
