Microsoft has announced that it will deny police access to its facial recognition technology in the absence of legislation. The initiative, like other Internet giants, is set against the backdrop of protests against police violence.
"We are not selling our facial recognition technology to US police services right now, and until there is strong federal human rights law, we will not be selling this technology to law enforcement, "said Brad Smith, a senior Microsoft official at a roundtable hosted by the Washington Post.
Microsoft for "strong government regulation"
Microsoft also plans to put in place mechanisms to assess the use made of this controversial technology even outside the police. "For the past two years we have focused on developing and implementing solid principles to assist us in the use of facial recognition, and we have continued to demand strong government regulation," said Brad Smith. .
The official pledged to work in concert with other proponents of legislation in this area and said Microsoft was taking the opportunity "to strengthen the application review processes for our customers who wish to use this technology." in large scale ".
Amazon, IBM and Google too
Since the death of George Floyd, an African-American asphyxiated by a white police officer in Minneapolis, businesses, as well as local and national authorities, have been trying to react to pressure from the street and social networks. On Wednesday, Amazon decided to ban police from using its Rekognition facial recognition software for a year, to give Congress time to "put in place appropriate rules" for using the technology.
IBM had previously announced on Monday that it would suspend the sale of similar identification software and said it was "opposed to the use of any technology for the purposes of mass surveillance, racial profiling and violations of basic human rights and freedoms" . During a speech in Brussels in January, Sundar Pichai, the boss of Google, had explained to him that his company would not provide a turnkey facial recognition service until rules and safeguards were put in place by the authorities.
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- Police
- United States
- Facial recognition
- High-Tech
- Microsoft