For Immediate Release
S.T.O.P. Welcomes San Francisco Facial Recognition Ban, Urges NY to Enact Same
(NEW YORK, NY, 5/14/2019) – Today, the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (S.T.O.P.), a privacy and civil rights group, welcomed the San Francisco Board of Supervisors’ decision to ban city agencies from using facial recognition. The ban prohibits police and other city agencies from utilizing the growing array of tools that use artificial intelligence to compare photos or videos to a database of ID photos.
SEE: San Francisco Bans Facial Recognition Technology
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/14/us/facial-recognition-ban-san-francisco.html
The ban comes as New York City and other localities continue to expand their use of facial recognition. In April, S.T.O.P. condemned the apparent use of Facial Recognition technology in the Times Square subway station. That same month, it was reported that the MTA’s facial recognition program for bridges and tunnels failed to identify a single driver’s face and that the NYPD’s facial recognition program often returns hundreds of incorrect “matches” for a single suspect.
SEE: S.T.O.P. Demands Times-Square Subway Facial Recognition Data
https://www.stopspying.org/latest-news/2019/4/22/stop-demands-times-square-subway-facial-recognition-data
Face it: Recognition technology isn’t close to ready for prime-time
https://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/ny-oped-face-it-nypd-20190417-4ech6z3t55bi7jsw34wa2o4k5e-story.html
“We applaud San Francisco’s historic ban on facial recognition and we call on New York’s elected officials to do the same,“ said STOP Executive Director Albert Fox Cahn. “New York should be a leader on protecting civil rights, but until we are, we should at least keep up with the model set by progressive cities like San Francisco. The facts are clear: many facial recognition algorithms are broken and biased. The city and state have failed enact the safeguards we would need to prevent algorithmic discriminating against communities of color. Rather than investing millions of dollars in this invasive technology, we should follow San Francisco’s lead and ban it.”
The Surveillance Technology Oversight Project STOP is a non-profit advocacy organization and legal services provider hosted by the Urban Justice Center. STOP litigates and advocates for privacy, fighting excessive local and state-level surveillance. Our work highlights the discriminatory impact of surveillance on Muslim Americans, immigrants, and communities of color.
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CONTACT: STOP Executive Director Albert Fox Cahn;
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