LAPD ban facial recognition following alleged unauthorised use

The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) has banned the use of facial recognition after officers allegedly used it without authorisation.

Facial recognition systems have faced increased scrutiny in recent years due to repeated studies showing they have serious biases.

Wherever facial recognition systems are deployed, the public needs to have faith they’re being used fairly—something which no deployment so far has been able to do.

Public trust in facial...

19 November 2020 | AI

Liberty wins first case banning police use of facial recognition

Human rights group Liberty has won the first international case banning the use of facial recognition technology for policing.

In a judgment today, the Court of Appeal ruled that South Wales Police’s use of facial recognition technology breaches privacy rights, data protection laws, and equality laws.

Liberty launched the case on behalf of Cardiff resident Ed Bridges who was scanned by the technology first on a busy Cardiff high street in December 2017, and again when...

11 August 2020 | AI

Congressman requests specifics of Amazon’s facial recognition pledge

California Congressman Jimmy Gomez has joined those sceptical of Amazon’s recent facial recognition pledge and has penned a letter to CEO Jeff Bezos asking for specifics.

“Corporations have been quick to share expressions of support for the Black Lives Matter movement following the public outrage over the murders of Black Americans like George Floyd at the hands of police,” said Congressman Gomez. “Unfortunately, too many of these gestures have been performative at...

18 June 2020 | AI

IBM will no longer build facial recognition tech, sends letter to Congress

IBM has announced it will no longer build facial recognition amid growing concern over the technology’s implications.

In a letter to Congress, IBM CEO Arvind Krishna wrote:

“IBM firmly opposes and will not condone uses of any [facial recognition] technology, including facial recognition technology offered by other vendors, for mass surveillance, racial profiling, violations of basic human rights and freedoms, or any purpose which is not consistent with our values and...

9 June 2020 | AI