Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #banfacialrecognition

Most recents (11)

THREAD: I'll be following along with the House Judiciary Committee hearing on #facialrecognition today: judiciary.house.gov/calendar/event…

Will be on the lookout for lawmakers parroting talking points fed to them by tech industry lobbyists and law enforcement shills. #BanFacialRecognition
Only a few minutes into the hearing and we've already heard a ton of excuses for why lawmakers aren't just moving quickly to ban this technology. The language they're using around "oversight" & "regulatory frameworks" fed to them directly from tech lobbyists opposing moratorium
Good to hear @RepJerryNadler acknowledge the harm of private use of facial recognition as well as government / law enforcement use. @fightfortheftr supports a ban on the vast majority of private use of facial recognition: fightforthefuture.org/news/2021-03-1…
Read 51 tweets
The problem with this story is that police using facial recognition does not exist in some sort of vacuum. Past police conduct and abuses factor in. No level of regulation will make this tool safe to use against people of color.
nytimes.com/2020/11/11/tec…
There is a longer history of police reforms that have failed to make policing a safe institution for people of color. One such longer view of history is @MPD_150's report Enough is Enough. mpd150.com/report/
This NY Times repeats the same tired story that the promise of "public safety" is worth the risk to some people's lives. The story of Robert Williams misidentified by police in Detroit is chalked up as an unfortunate mistake, when in fact its by design. #banfacialrecognition
Read 5 tweets
BREAKING: Portland, OR just became the first city in the US (possibly the world?) to ban both government and corporate use of #FacialRecognition surveillance technology. Every city council should follow suit!
The city council and mayor unanimously approved two ordinances. The first is similar to those passed in Boston, San Francisco, etc. it bans all government use of facial recognition including use by police, schools, etc. notably this also includes use by TSA or airlines at PDX
The second ordinance is historic. It bans private businesses from using facial recognition in places of “public accommodation” as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act. That means stores can’t use it on their customers, or on people walking by. It’s a huge deal.
Read 6 tweets
BREAKING: A major new study from the University of Michigan recommends an outright ban on the use of #facialrecognition in schools.

Read the full report here: stpp.fordschool.umich.edu/sites/stpp.for… Image
The report's authors have recommended that schools #BanFacialRecognition because:

1) it is racist;
2) it brings state surveillance into the classroom;
3) it punishes nonconformity;
4) it commodifies children's data; and
5) it is inaccurate.
From the Executive Summary: "Through an iterative process, we developed historical case studies of similar technologies, and analyzed their social, economic, and political impacts, and the moral questions that they raised."

Take action at BanFacialRecognition.com
Read 4 tweets
Hello signatories of the Harpers letter! As an org that has worked for years to defend free expression, we are so grateful for your concern. We assume any minute now you will issue a statement opposing the reauthorization of the PATRIOT ACT, attacks on encryption & CDA 230 etc
oh and we can only imagine you all endorse the #BanFacialRecognition legislation introduced last month, and will unequivocally call for the repeal of SESTA/FOSTA. And of course it goes without saying you will support a ban on microtargeting and algorithmic amplification
additionally we assume you will use your collectively massive platform to oppose the EARN IT act & call for meaningful anti-trust action against Big Tech companies that restrict democratic debate. We could not be more grateful for your opposition to the criminalization of Antifa.
Read 4 tweets
BREAKING: Lawmakers in the House and Senate have introduced legislation that effectively bans law enforcement use of facial recognition in the United States.
The Facial Recognition and Biometric Technology Moratorium Act of 2020 would immediately stop all Federal agencies (including ICE, the TSA, the FBI, etc) from using facial recognition for any purpose.

It uses Byrne grants to force local and state cops & agencies to do the same.
The legislation comes just one day after Robert Williams, a Black man from Detroit who was wrongfully arrested in front of his wife and children and held for 30 hours due to a racist facial recognition algorithm, went public with his story.

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…
Read 7 tweets
Congress is trying to ram through reauthorization of the #PatriotAct and #FISA surveillance. These mass spying programs haven’t saved any lives, but they HAVE been used to crack down on protesters and political dissent.

Here’s a short history …

1/

saveinternetprivacy.org
The first wiretaps were used to spy on a cop-turned-bootlegger in the 20’s. The public loved him for defying unjust Prohibition laws, and he never used violence against the public or the police. But the federal government wanted to make an example.

2/

newyorker.com/culture/cultur…
By the 30’s, the federal government was using wiretaps to spy on political activists, helping corporations prevent workers from unionizing in protest against unsafe working conditions and economic exploitation.

3/

smithsonianmag.com/history/brief-…
Read 22 tweets
BREAKING: Microsoft CEO says they will stop selling #facialrecognition surveillance software to police.
Big caveat, they say they'll stop until there are "national standards," which is code for "legislation that our corporate lawyers help write to ensure it is friendly to our business model."

But make no mistake: this is a huge deal, and it's the result of tireless organizing.
The biggest companies in tech are realizing that #facialrecognition is politically toxic. They've decided that it is more profitable to STOP selling it than it would be to keep selling it. And that's significant.

Now we need to seize this moment and get lawmakers to act.
Read 4 tweets
Even #Amazon thinks it's good PR to pretend like they're doing something:

“This is nothing more than a public relations stunt from Amazon. But it’s also a sign that #facialrecognition is increasingly politically toxic, which is a result of the incredible organizing happening... Image
Amazon knows that facial recognition software is dangerous. They know it’s the perfect tool for tyranny. They know it’s racist–& that in the hands of police it will simply exacerbate systemic discrimination in our criminal justice system." - ❤ Fight Deputy Director @evan_greer
Read 3 tweets
This is exactly how it will happen.

This New York school quietly purchased a facial recognition surveillance system.

When parents, students, and teachers found out, they were outraged.

So school officials went into spin mode. THREAD:

nbcnewyork.com/news/local/ny-…
They held some open meetings and assured parents that they would revise their policies.

Their original plan included using facial recognition, which is notoriously racially biased, to track student attendance and blacklist students who were suspended.

They made some tweaks.
After some pushback, they came back saying that they would only use the system to identify guns, not faces. Sounds reasonable, right?

Then once they got buy in for that, they expanded the scope: now they're scanning faces looking for people on law enforcement watch lists.
Read 6 tweets
Today, we’re launching a campaign to #BanFacialRecognition nationwide.

This weapon is too dangerous to be regulated piecemeal, city by city. It's unlike any other form of government surveillance.

We must stop it. Join us: banfacialrecognition.com
Silicon Valley lobbyists are calling for light regulation on facial recognition.

They're trying to avoid the real debate: whether this tech should even exist.

It's misdirection. Companies like Microsoft & Amazon will benefit tremendously from the expansion of total surveillance
It’s not a hypothetical: Facial recognition programs are sweeping across the country. Just this weekend, we learned ICE & the FBI scan millions of Americans’ drivers license w/out consent.

But the tech is fundamentally flawed. It cannot be made safe.

washingtonpost.com/technology/201…
Read 12 tweets

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