The United States Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) today asked Microsoft, Amazon and Google to pledge not to sell their facial recognition technology to the government.
The group of 85 associations and activist groups within which are the ACLU, the Center for Refugees and Immigrants for Education and Legal Services (RAICES) and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), explained through a statement that He has sent three letters to the technology companies to “make it clear” that providing “facial recognition software” to the government “threatens the safety of members of the community and will also undermine confidence in the business.”
“We are at a crossroads with facial surveillance, and the decisions made by these companies will determine whether the next generation should fear that the government will continue to go to a protest, to their place of prayer or simply to live their life,” said the Director of Technology and Civil Liberties, Nicole Ozer.
In its letters addressed to the main heads of technology companies, the coalition emphasizes that facial recognition “allows the Government to point out immigrants, religious minorities and people of colour”, exacerbating “historical and current prejudices.”
The decisions made by these companies will determine if the next generation should fear that the government will continue to go to a protest, to their place of prayer or simply to live their lives.
Google recently announced that it will not sell such software until the risks of the technology are recognized, something also highlighted by Microsoft President Brad Smith.
The statement would also indicate that Amazon has insisted on selling the technology to the government despite warnings from different authorities and, despite the fact that its chief executive, Jeff Bezos, has acknowledged that its products could be “misused”.
“History has clearly taught us that the government will exploit technologies such as the surveillance of faces to attack communities of colour, religious minorities and immigrants,” added Ozer. Amazon, Google and Microsoft did not immediately respond to the request of the group led by the UCLA
Also published on Medium.