vendredi 25 janvier 2019

U.S : Facial recognition is too dangerous for law enforcement.



Silicon Valley tech companies are helping government agencies surveil Black communities. 

Tell tech CEOs to stop selling facial recognition software to the government
!



















Dear friend, 



Tech companies want to help the government surveil and harass Black communities. Agencies like the FBI, ICE, and several local police departments are using facial recognition technology that’s being supplied to them by tech companies like Amazon, Google, and Microsoft.1  Microsoft markets and sells its own tool called Face API, even as it calls on the federal government to regulate facial recognition technology. Amazon has been secretly trying to sell the Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) agency it’s facial recognition surveillance system, Rekognition.2 Google, on the other hand, has announced it would not make its facial recognition program available on it’s cloud platform, but has not ruled out doing so in the future and has already shared enhanced surveillance technology with the U.S. military.3 4






Facial recognition is not a neutral technology. Academic research has already shown that facial recognition technology is less accurate for darker-skinned faces and women. 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 software, 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 Black members of Congress like civil rights hero John Lewis.6

Advanced surveillance technologies like these have dangerous impacts on Black communities and activists. Just this week, a New York state judge ruled that they NYPD must disclose it’s surveillance tactics used against organizers associated with the Movement for Black Lives. 7 Civil liberties advocates claimed that New York law enforcement agencies used high-tech tools such as Stingrays, facial recognition software, and drones to cut off reception and jam up cell phones and messaging apps of activists. At the same time, a separate lawsuit has revealed that the NYPD has been engaged in a ‘large scale’ effort to surveil Black activists - including gathering their photos.8More advanced surveillance technology in the hands of these government agencies means more civil rights violations for Black organizers and activists who are working towards our collective liberation.






Across the country, thousands of people are speaking up against the use of facial recognition technology, including activists, members of Congress, and even employees from these large tech companies. Amazon employees have signed a letter asking CEO Jeff Bezos to stop selling this technology.9 In an op-ed published last Fall, 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.”10

When companies profit from surveillance technology, communities of color pay the price. At a time when Black and immigrant communities are engaging in high-profile organizing, handing over this surveillance technology to government agencies and law enforcement threatens our freedom and lives.






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. "Facial recognition gives police a powerful new tracking tool. It's also raising alarms", NBC News, 30 July 2018 https://act.colorofchange.org/go/118954?t=9&akid=22909%2E1942551%2E2hd9CW
  2. "Amazon Pushes ICE to Buy Its Face Recognition Surveillance Tech," The Daily Beast, 23 October 2018 https://act.colorofchange.org/go/102217?t=11&akid=22909%2E1942551%2E2hd9CW
  3. "Google says it won't sell face recognition for now -- but it will be hard to slow its use", MIT Technology Review, 14 December 2018 https://act.colorofchange.org/go/118955?t=13&akid=22909%2E1942551%2E2hd9CW
  4. "Google Is Helping the Pentagon Build AI for Drones", Gizmodo, 6 March 2018 https://act.colorofchange.org/go/118956?t=15&akid=22909%2E1942551%2E2hd9CW
  5. "Gender Shades : Intersectional Accuracy Disparities in Commercial Gender Classification," MIT Media Lab, 2018 http://act.colorofchange.org/go/102220?t=17&akid=22909%2E1942551%2E2hd9CW
  6. "Amazon’s Face Recognition Falsely Matched 28 Members of Congress With Mugshots," ACLU, 26 July 2018 https://act.colorofchange.org/go/102218?t=19&akid=22909%2E1942551%2E2hd9CW
  7. "Did NYPD Spy on Black Lives Matter Protestors? Judge Rules Police Must Disclose Surveillance Data", The Root, 16 January 2019 https://act.colorofchange.org/go/118959?t=21&akid=22909%2E1942551%2E2hd9CW
  8. "NYPD organized 'large scale' Black Lives Matter surveillance and kept activists photos years later", Metro, 17 January 2019 https://act.colorofchange.org/go/118960?t=23&akid=22909%2E1942551%2E2hd9CW
  9. "‘Shock, Anger, Disappointment’ : An Amazon Employee Speaks Out," Medium, 16 October 2018 https://act.colorofchange.org/go/102222?t=25&akid=22909%2E1942551%2E2hd9CW
  10. "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=27&akid=22909%2E1942551%2E2hd9CW

























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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