Companies Are Halting Law Enforcement Use of Facial Recognition Technology; Lawmakers Should Act Now

This past week, as the national conversation has progressed surrounding police reform in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd, three companies that develop and sell facial recognition technology have halted these practices, citing their impacts on people of color. On Monday, IBM announced in a letter to Congress that it would no longer offer any facial recognition or analysis software, as Congress considers police reform legislation. Amazon followed with its own announcement on Wednesday, stating that it would implement a one-year moratorium on police use of Amazon’s facial recognition technology “Rekognition” to allow time for Congress to implement regulations for its ethical use. Today, Microsoft joined, with its President Brad Smith announcing during a live event that the company will not sell facial recognition technology to police departments until there is federal regulation of the technology. New America’s Open Technology Institute (OTI) welcomes these moves, and urges Congress and state legislatures to take action to prohibit law enforcement use of facial recognition technology now.

As a result of the serious racial and gender bias issues and other risks that the technology presents, including potential for its uneven use, OTI has joined with other civil liberties organizations in calling for a moratorium on law enforcement use of facial recognition technology. As IBM urged in its letter to Congress, “now is the time to begin a national dialogue on whether and how facial recognition technology should be employed by domestic law enforcement agencies.” IBM also stated that it opposes the use of facial recognition for mass surveillance, racial profiling, and violations of basic human rights. Amazon did not explicitly discuss these issues, but its moratorium announcement amounts to an acknowledgement that facial recognition technology creates real risks related to racial bias and injustice. Microsoft stated that while it has not sold its technology to police departments, the “bottom line for [Microsoft] is to protect the human rights of people as this technology is deployed.”

The following quote can be attributed to Lauren Sarkesian, senior policy counsel at New America’s Open Technology Institute:

“This acknowledgment of the civil rights issues presented by facial recognition technology—from three major companies that develop and sell the technology, no less—should serve as a wake-up call to policymakers as they consider police reform legislation. Congress has been slow to act on this dangerous technology despite widespread awareness of the risks it presents, especially to people of color, and ongoing calls from advocates and researchers to ban or regulate it. Now more than ever, Congress, states, and cities should take action against government use of surveillance technologies, which disproportionately impact Black and Brown communities. At the very least, legislators should enact legislation to halt law enforcement use of facial recognition technology now.”