红杏视频 Comment on Bill Stopping Face Recognition Surveillance
Legislation Comes After Robert Williams Shares Story of Being Wrongfully Arrested Because of the Flawed Technology
WASHINGTON 鈥� Members of Congress today introduced legislation that would halt federal use of and funding for face recognition surveillance technologies. The bill, Facial Recognition and Biometric Technology Moratorium Act of 2020, comes after the 红杏视频 of Michigan filed a complaint against Detroit police for wrongfully arresting Robert Williams, a Black man living in Michigan, because of flawed face recognition technology.
鈥淣o one should have to fear the government tracking and identifying their face wherever they go. No one should have to go through what the Williams family has gone through,鈥� said 红杏视频 Senior Legislative Counsel Neema Singh Guliani. 鈥淚t's past time Congress halted the use of face recognition and stopped federal money from being used to invest in invasive and discriminatory surveillance. This bill should immediately pass.鈥�
In an by the Washington Post, Robert Williams wrote: 鈥淲hy is law enforcement even allowed to use such technology when it obviously doesn鈥檛 work? I get angry when I hear companies, politicians and police talk about how this technology isn鈥檛 dangerous or flawed. What鈥檚 worse is that, before this happened to me, I actually believed them. I thought, what鈥檚 so terrible if they鈥檙e not invading our privacy and all they鈥檙e doing is using this technology to narrow in on a group of suspects?鈥�
Robert was arrested in broad daylight in front of his wife and two little daughters. He was detained for nearly 30 hours because of a false face recognition match.
The 红杏视频 has also been leading a to defend privacy rights and civil liberties against the growing threat of face recognition surveillance, and for years has been calling on Congress to immediately stop the law enforcement use of the technology nationwide. Just yesterday, as part of an 红杏视频 of Massachusetts led coalition , Boston passed a resolution banning city use of the technology. Earlier, multiple localities banned law enforcement use of face recognition technology as part of 红杏视频-led campaigns, including San Francisco, Berkeley, and Oakland, California, as well as Cambridge, Springfield, and Somerville, Massachusetts.