In a statement on May 18, 2021, Amazon announced that it is extending its ban on U.S. police operating its facial recognition software Rekognition. Law enforcement is being denied access to the tool due to controversies related to the potential for discrimination that its use could cause. This measure will be in place “until further notice” according to the company of Jeff Bezos.
Amazon Rekognition is a service based on Deep Learning offered by Amazon, allowing to identify objects, people, text, scenes and activities in images and videos, as well as detect inappropriate content. This automation of video analysis by law enforcement is raising concerns.
An initial one-year moratorium to ban the use of facial recognition by police
This extension comes at the end of the one-year moratorium announced by the brand last June. The firm had taken into account the context of pressure from associations defending freedoms as well as demonstrations against racism and police violence in the United States.
Some activists accused the police of exploiting the network of Amazon Ring cameras when they are usually used by individuals to secure their homes for example. Several NGOs were demanding reforms around the use of surveillance systems by law enforcement. According to these organizations, law enforcement officers are reportedly targeting specific ethnic groups.
NGOs call for halt to marketing of Amazon’s Rekognition
tool
In its comments last year, the firm hoped that this one-year ban would give “sufficient time for Congress to put in place appropriate rules to ensure the ethical use of these technologies. In parallel, IBM, Google and Microsoft also announced similar measures.
Earlier this month, a group of NGOs called on Amazon to stop selling Rekognition entirely. Evan Greer of Fight for the Future, one of the coalition’s members, spoke out around this demand:
“Facial recognition technologies are far too dangerous to be installed on the whims of firms like Amazon.”
For now, the e-commerce giant explains that it will maintain its decision until further notice.
But then, who uses Amazon Rekognition?
Amazon’s clients include the NFL (National Football League), CBS, National Geographics, SmugMug, Sky News, Influencial.
In addition to these media uses, the Amazon Rekognition site also mentions Aella Credit, which uses Amazon Rekognition to ensure the identity of its customers, and Marinus Analytics, which provides law enforcement agencies with tools to turn Big Data into actionable intelligence. Marinus’ flagship software, Traffic Jam, is a suite of tools law enforcement uses in sex trafficking investigations:
“Police need sophisticated tools to promote victim-friendly policing in the Internet age. Police know that runaway children are among the most likely victims of trafficking. Before using Amazon Rekognition, their only recourse was to manually scour online data to try to find them. A tedious if not impossible task. Now, with Traffic Jams Face Search, powered by Amazon Rekognition, investigators are able to take effective action by searching millions of records for victims in seconds.
Emily Kennedy, CEO and founder of Marinus Analytics
Translated from Amazon continue de refuser que les forces de l’ordre utilisent ses outils de reconnaissance faciale
