IBM, Amazon Halt Use of Facial Recognition for Law Enforcement
IBM and Amazon expressed concern this week that the technology might reproduce biases that could lead to racial profiling or inappropriate use. Amazon has given the federal government one year to impose stronger regulations on the technology’s use. Both companies have announced plans to suspend cooperation with the federal government on facial recognition technology.
In a letter to lawmakers, IBM CEO Arvind Krishna explained, “IBM no longer offers general purpose IBM facial recognition or analysis software. IBM firmly opposes and will not condone uses of any technology, including facial recognition technology offered by other vendors, for mass surveillance, racial profiling, violations of basic human rights and freedoms, or any purpose which is not consistent with our values and Principles of Trust and Transparency. We believe now is the time to begin a national dialogue on whether and how facial recognition technology should be employed by domestic law enforcement agencies.”
Krishna noted that artificial intelligence must be regularly tested for bias and that bias testing should be “audited and reported.”
The letter explained that, along with responsible technology policies, IBM would like to work with Congress on police reform and broadening skills and educational opportunities.
Similarly, Amazon announced in blog post this week, “We’re implementing a one-year moratorium on police use of Amazon’s facial recognition technology. We will continue to allow organizations like Thorn, the International Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and Marinus Analytics to use Amazon Rekognition to help rescue human trafficking victims and reunite missing children with their families.”
The blog post continued to explain, “We’ve advocated that governments should put in place stronger regulations to govern the ethical use of facial recognition technology, and in recent days, Congress appears ready to take on this challenge. We hope this one-year moratorium might give Congress enough time to implement appropriate rules, and we stand ready to help if requested.”
Regulation and bias testing of facial recognition technology has been proposed in Congress.
As FEDagent reported in February, Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) introduced the Ethical Use of Facial Recognition Act to stop federal government use of facial recognition until comprehensive ethical guidelines can be created. The bill includes limited exceptions for law enforcement use of facial recognition pursuant to warrants issued by a court.