S.T.O.P. Condemns Amazon Police Facial Recognition Moratorium As ‘too little, too late

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View this email in your browser For Immediate Release S.T.O.P. Condemns Amazon Police Facial Recognition Moratorium As ‘too little, too late’   (NEW YORK, NY, 06/10/2020) – Today, the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (S.T.O.P.), a New York-based privacy group, condemned Amazon’s announcement of a partial one-year moratorium on police use of facial recognition as “too little, too late.” Amazon will continue to allow some law enforcement uses of Rekognition over the next year, including searches by the controversial anti-sex worker organization Thorn.   SEE: We are implementing a one-year moratorium on police use of Rekognition https://blog.aboutamazon.com/policy/we-are-implementing-a-one-year-moratorium-on-police-use-of-rekognition   Ashton Kutcher Claims He Helped Cops Save Way More Sex-Trafficking Victims Than Authorities Say They've Found https://reason.com/2017/02/15/ashton-kutcher-plays-sex-worker-savior/   “Facial recognition is biased, broken, and a danger to every American,” said Surveillance Technology Oversight Project Executive Director Albert Fox Cahn. “Amazon has made huge sums of money by selling this dangerous and discriminatory tech to police; a one-year pause is not enough. Amazon shouldn’t just end this practice for one year or one decade, it should end it forever. Amazon said that it wanted to give ‘Congress enough time to implement appropriate rules,’ but the only appropriate rule for facial recognition is a complete ban.”   The civil rights group noted that facial recognition commonly has higher error rates for people of color, particularly Black women.   Cahn continued, “we know that a false facial recognition match can lead to false arrest, wrongful conviction, and far worse. George Floyd’s killing shows how every police encounter can become a matter of life and death. When we allow facial recognition, we’re not just invading Black and Latin/X individuals’ privacy, we’re putting their lives at risk. The Surveillance Technology Oversight Project is a non-profit advocacy organization and legal services provider hosted by the Urban Justice Center. S.T.O.P. 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.   - END – CONTACT: S.T.O.P. Executive Director Albert Fox Cahn. Copyright © 2019 Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, All rights reserved. Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.