How do Amazon employees feel about Amazon selling surveillance face recognition software to police?
Amazon has developed a face recognition software " Rekognition ", and it became clear that it is offering to the police for surveillance of the public. For Rekognition, not only from Amazon shareholders but also from Amazon employees, voices calling for opponents, anonymous Amazon employees are asked about how Amazon responds to anti-Rekognition activities and the feeling of fraud by Amazon employees I am answering.
'Shock, Anger, Disappointment': An Amazon Employee Speaks Out
https://medium.com/s/oversight/88d927792950
You can find out about the problem of face recognition software "Rekognition" developed by Amazon by following article.
It turns out that Amazon sells facial recognition software to police, and alarm bells are ringing as a possibility of being abused in citizen's surveillance - GIGAZINE
Amazon's face recognition technology mistaken 28 parliamentarians as "criminals" - GIGAZINE
When the existence of Rekognition is revealed, a letter to the effect that it opposes more than 100 Amazon employees was delivered to CEO Jeff Bezos, and it seems that there are already 450 people who agree with this letter and sign it. Amazon employees who want anonymity have responded to several questions to Medium about how Amazon's response to employees' clear "NO" voices to Rekognition is responding.
Q:
What is Amazon's reaction just a few months after submitting a letter against employees' opposition to Rekognition?
Amazon employee:
So far it is "wireless sealing". There is no official reaction by Amazon, there is no noticeable change in the approach to Rekognitioon. Perhaps they are hoping that the problem will pass away. "If maybe Amazon does not accept defeat, perhaps the employees will be motivated and they will no longer speak out ...".
Q:
When Rekognition was introduced for the first time, how many Amazon employees would have known the service? How was your colleague's reaction when you learned it?
Amazon employee:
Many of the people working at AWS knew about the Rekonition service. The rest of the employees often do not know about the AWS staff. I think that most people did not know that Rekognition was sold to the police. When I was informed of technology for the first time, I thought that it was very cool to use for image recognition in every field, which is not limited in application. I felt bad when I learned that it would be sold for monitoring purposes. A lot of colleagues who talked are similar reactions. It is "shock" "anger" "disappointment".
Q:
Did you feel that "Rekognition misunderstood 28 parliamentarians as" criminals "in ACLU test," Turning Point "?
Amazon employee:
It was such a big topic that it was even featured in the Amazon Official Blog. Although it became a hot topic within the company, I can not say until the turning point.
Q:
Other facial recognition technology development companies have expressed concern about the risk of inaccurate results or misuse because their technology is not ready to provide to the police authorities. Does anyone working on the Rekognition project at Amazon feel the same way? It seems that hesitation is not felt in Amazon's official comment.
Amazon employee:
Of course the official comment is positive without shaking. Especially, it is especially so if you are a high rank who is not at the employee level. However, I do not think that Rekognition is a comfortable thing to raise morale, when looking at a relatively low employee level.
Among Amazon's "Leadership Principles" there is "Do not agree, pledge." This encourages frank criticism and discussion. But for ethical concerns, this principle is "hindered" in principle. The meaning behind the phrase "do not agree or restrict" is that "even though you do not agree, you must obey what was once decided."
Q:
Did you criticize Barney Sanders' lawyer, did you see any proposition that Amazon raised its minimum wage to $ 15 (about 1700 yen) ?
Amazon employee:
Certainly Sanders may have pushed Amazon's salary problem to the forefront in a couple of months, but this minimum $ 15 worth debate is brought by many employees, former employees, an increasing number of factory workers' organizations It is. This victory happened under the initiative of the workers, I think that it is necessary for such workers to work out if you want to change something in the company.
Q:
Have you retaliated against those who raised voice? Or are you worried about retaliation?
Amazon employee:
I have not heard about retaliation for now, but there is certainly fear. There are also fear among those who just signed the letter. Some people lose more than others than others. If I get fired, I've heard voices worrying about losing the status of immigrants. Fear is vague, but it should be taken seriously. Therefore, we can unite. We will help each other.
by Scott Lewis
Q:
What do you think Amazon will do next?
Amazon employee:
It is difficult to answer. We just need to keep working, build a network of people who care about this problem, and keep on fighting. In the short term the request for letters may not be accepted, but if we keep working together, we will be able to maintain our power.
Q:
What do you think about recent protests among employees of other high-tech companies? Do you feel the big movement that happens in the high-tech industry?
Amazon employee:
It is certainly so. Personally, it is affected by various activities of Google, Microsoft, Salesforce employees. Many of us share the inspiration. I think that is the beginning of the movement to control "what to make" and "who to make" with many employees. There may be many battles that can not win at first, but there are already some wonderful success stories. For example, Google's "Project Maven" is its representative. However, it is necessary to build it over the long term.
Q:
Why are you hoping for anonymity?
Amazon employee:
The first reason is for "safety". The second reason is because it is not my problem. I can not speak all the voices of the letter and I can not be a supporter of the anti-Rekognition campaign. But at least I'd like to share my opinion on the campaign for my colleagues.
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