Facial recognition sold to the police: Amazon backed by its shareholders

San Francisco (AFP)

Despite protests from several associations, Amazon shareholders have refused to ban the computer giant selling its facial recognition technology to law enforcement, the group said Wednesday.

Proposals calling for a ban, as well as an independent study on the uses of technology Rekognition, were indeed rejected at the general meeting of the US group Wednesday, said the latter to AFP.

The board of directors of Jeff Bezos' group was against these motions by shareholders worried about the potential privacy and civil rights issues associated with this technology.

In particular, they claimed that several police services are testing this system and that, according to the press, Amazon has proposed it to the border police, which could be used to monitor migrants.

Last year, in an open letter, more than 30 militant groups led by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) urged Amazon to stop supplying its facial recognition technology to the police, saying it gives it "a dangerous surveillance power ".

Amazon is one of many companies in the United States and other countries that deploy facial recognition for security services and law enforcement.

Surveys have shown that such programs are prone to error, especially when it comes to identifying non-white people. Activists also argue that these systems provide an important database of biometric information that can be misused.

Specifically, shareholders in Amazon were demanding in their motion that the group refrain from selling Rekognition to government agencies unless it is independently proven that it would not contribute to violating the rights of citizens.

"New technology should not be banned or condemned because of potential misuse," Amazon's board of directors said in preparatory documents for the general assembly.

The popularization of facial recognition - present even in some smartphones - has increased concerns about its uses.

San Francisco last week became the first US city to ban the use of facial recognition technology by police and other government agencies.

? 2019 AFP