vendredi 2 novembre 2018

U.S : First AMAZON collaborated with law enforcement. Now they’re collaborating with ICE.



Amazon wants to help ICE track and deport immigrants.


Tell Jeff Bezos not to sell face surveillance technology to ICE or law enforcement.
























01/11/2018






Dear friend. 




Despite his claims of support for migrants, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has been secretly trying to sell ICE - Immigration Customs and Enforcement - his racially discriminatory facial recognition software, called Rekognition.1

Arming ICE with real-time facial recognition surveillance technology would supercharge the agency’s deportation machine, and could make undocumented immigrants afraid to seek out vital services in places that might have cameras.2 And given how frequently Amazon’s technology misidentifies Black people, it would increase the number of dangerous interactions between Black people and ICE’s law enforcement agents.

As law enforcement spy on Black activists, and the Trump administration continues its assault on immigrants’ rights, putting Amazon’s facial recognition surveillance tools in the hands of ICE and law enforcement will reproduce and amplify existing systems of oppression.3






Amazon’s Rekognition is a dangerous surveillance tool with racial biases baked in. Academic research has already shown that facial recognition technology is less accurate for darker-skinned faces and women.4 This means that Black and Latinx people are much more likely to be misidentified and treated as a threat to law enforcement, biasing law enforcement agents before an encounter even begins. For Amazon’s Rekognition, the default settings are alarmingly inaccurate and racially biased. In a recent test of Rekognition that ran pictures of every member of Congress against a collection of mugshots, there were 28 false matches, with significantly higher incorrect results for people of color.5 The system even misidentified civil rights legend Rep. John Lewis.

Amazon’s own employees are deeply disturbed by this technology and openly questioning why they are being asked to build it.6 So far, more than 450 Amazon employees have signed a letter asking CEO Jeff Bezos to stop selling this technology.7 In an op-ed published last week, one of Amazon’s own employees warned that the technology’s known struggles with accurately identifying people with darker skin “will only reproduce and amplify existing systems of oppression.”8

At a time when Black and immigrant communities are organizing in public at high levels, despite the continued terror of discriminatory policing, handing this surveillance technology over to law enforcement and ICE threatens our freedom and our lives. We cannot allow Bezos to get away with saying he supports our communities while he profits from the sale of destructive surveillance tools like Rekognition. It’s time to hold Amazon and Jeff Bezos accountable for their contribution to Trump’s deportation machine.






Until justice is real, 





Brandi, Rashad, Arisha, Jade, Evan, Johnny, Future, Corina, Chad, Mary, Saréya, Angela, Eesha, Samantha, and the rest of the Color Of Change team
























References :






  1. "Amazon Pushes ICE to Buy Its Face Recognition Surveillance Tech," The Daily Beast, 23 October 2018 https://act.colorofchange.org/go/102217?t=9&akid=19829%2E1942551%2EuL0snJ
  2. "Amazon’s Face Recognition Falsely Matched 28 Members of Congress With Mugshots," ACLU, 26 July 2018 https://act.colorofchange.org/go/102218?t=11&akid=19829%2E1942551%2EuL0snJ
  3. "Memphis police accused of using fake accounts to surveil black activists,"
    The Guardian, 1 August 2018 https://act.colorofchange.org/go/102219?t=13&akid=19829%2E1942551%2EuL0snJ
  4. "Gender Shades : Intersectional Accuracy Disparities in Commercial Gender Classification," MIT Media Lab, 2018 http://act.colorofchange.org/go/102220?t=15&akid=19829%2E1942551%2EuL0snJ
  5. "Amazon’s Face Recognition Falsely Matched 28 Members of Congress With Mugshots," ACLU, 26 July 2018 https://act.colorofchange.org/go/102218?t=17&akid=19829%2E1942551%2EuL0snJ
  6. "I’m an Amazon Employee. My Company Shouldn’t Sell Facial Recognition Tech to Police," Medium, 16 October 2018 https://act.colorofchange.org/go/102221?t=19&akid=19829%2E1942551%2EuL0snJ
  7. "‘Shock, Anger, Disappointment’: An Amazon Employee Speaks Out," Medium, 16 October 2018 https://act.colorofchange.org/go/102222?t=21&akid=19829%2E1942551%2EuL0snJ
  8. "I’m an Amazon Employee. My Company Shouldn’t Sell Facial Recognition Tech to Police," Medium, 16 October 2018 https://act.colorofchange.org/go/102221?t=23&akid=19829%2E1942551%2EuL0snJ






















Color Of Change is building a movement to elevate the voices of Black folks and our allies, and win real social and political change. Help keep our movement strong.















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