Government monitoring by face recognition technology persecutes minorities and inhibits freedom of expression, the Electronic Frontier Foundation warns

by PublicDomainPictures

Amazon sells face recognition software to police, but experts warn that if face recognition technology is used for people and community surveillance, the racial minority community will be adversely affected It is. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) also agrees with this idea, and announced a statement that "companies should not sell facial recognition monitoring technology to the government."

Governments Must Face the Facts about Face Surveillance, and Stop Using It | Electronic Frontier Foundation
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/02/governments-must-face-facts-about-face-surveillance-and-stop-using-it

There are an increasing number of cases where surveillance cameras that employ face recognition systems are used for police in the UK and China, but because it is said that face recognition technology is not perfect and there are many misrecognitions, Microsoft and Google Researchers are seeking regulations on "face recognition technology" .

In 2018, it was reported that Amazon sold face recognition software to the police, but even if this software shows that "People and pictures matched with a probability of 95.53%" in fact There were times when mistakes occurred, and many criticisms were invoked. There are also indications that the system of the Amazon is colored in particular and the accuracy is lowered, and the possibility of racial discrimination is regarded as a problem.

It turns out that Amazon sells facial recognition software to police, alarm bells are ringing as possibility of being abused in civilian surveillance - GIGAZINE

Meanwhile, the EFF also calls on the government to stop monitoring using facial recognition technology.

In Washington State and Massachusetts State, bipartisan lawmakers have submitted a bill to "prohibit the provincial government from using facial recognition technology until certain conditions are met," EFF supports this stance. The bill is also a prohibition on wearing a wearable camera for police face recognition. We listen directly from the minority's community that "Surveillance by face recognition technology does not have unfair influence on people in weak position", and unless it is judged that face recognition technology does not have racial discrimination effect, Congressman argues that suspension of use should not be solved.

The EFF sent a letter stating to the legislators in Washington state that they would support the bill.

SB 5528 and HB 1654 (face surveillance moratorium) - SUPPORT | Electronic Frontier Foundation
https://www.eff.org/document/sb-5528-and-hb-1654-face-surveillance-moratorium-support

Human face is an identification marker that is difficult to change or hide. By using the human face, authorities will be able to track all those who spend and work in public places. It can be a deterrent to the right guaranteed by the first Article of constitutional amendment, such as freedom of speech being inhibited if the government monitors using facial recognition technology. This is a situation in which the courts are concerned for a long time.

The government already uses technology for spying, such as monitoring activist's social media participating in a movement against black inequality such as Black · Lives Matter . There are also reports that the police are installing excessive surveillance cameras in areas where there are many people in the minority. In such a situation, it is not difficult to imagine that surveillance by face recognition technology will be adopted for racial profiling.

For these reasons, the EFF strongly insisted that "companies should not sell face-recognition monitoring technology to the government." The new bill in Washington State originates from the American Free Human Rights Association (ACLU), and the EFF also agreed with the movement of ACLU.