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17 Feb, 9 tweets, 2 min read
BREAKING: We’re calling on President Biden to pause all federal government use of face recognition technology.

This tech is flawed, biased against people of color, women, trans people, and more.

Even if it worked exactly as advertised, it would be a nightmare. Let’s explain.
Study after study has confirmed this bias.

One study showed that face recognition tech failed in identifying Black women nearly 1/3 of the time, but was more accurate on white men.

Subsequent studies, including by @ACLU_NorCal and the government, have confirmed these findings.
These biases have real consequences that disproportionately harm Black people.

Robert Williams, Michael Oliver, and Nijeer Parks are all Black men who were wrongly arrested and detained because of this technology. aclu.org/news/privacy-t…
Even if face recognition tech worked perfectly, it would be a civil liberties nightmare — giving the government the ability to track us to houses of worship, protests, healthcare appointments, intimate partners’ homes — harming our rights to privacy, speech, and association.
And face recognition technology would surely be used to exacerbate over-policing of communities of color, immigrant communities, poor communities, and others already bearing the brunt of the criminal enforcement system.
Government use of this technology goes beyond law enforcement. It is already being deployed in schools, public housing, and other spaces.

Face recognition tech has no place in our daily lives. It only exacerbates the systemic biases that already exist.
Over the past two years, activists and local leaders have passed bans on government use of face recognition tech in more than a dozen cities and states.

But local authorities have no power over federal agencies like the FBI or ICE, which can still use the technology anywhere.
Right now, President Biden can:

✔️ Sign an executive order halting federal use of face recognition technology
✔️ Limit state and local governments’ ability to purchase the technology with federal money
✔️ Support the Facial Recognition and Biometric Technology Moratorium Act
Never before has the government possessed a surveillance tool this dangerous.

Tell President Biden to honor his promise to center racial equity and put a stop to this invasive technology. action.aclu.org/petition/tell-…

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More from @ACLU

19 Feb
COVID-19 has had a devastating impact on people living in nursing homes and congregate settings.

Congress must act to protect essential workers and ensure people with disabilities can access needed services safely in their own homes — not in institutions overwhelmed by COVID-19.
Congress must make sure that additional Medicaid funding for Home and Community Based Services is in the next COVID relief package to protect people with disabilities, seniors and support essential workers.
HCBS funding would help maintain life-saving programs for people with disabilities and also provide critical benefits for home care workers — such as paid family leave or sick leave, PPE, and hazard pay.
Read 5 tweets
18 Feb
BREAKING: Ahead of Attorney General-designate Merrick Garland’s Senate confirmation hearing, we’re urging him to make strong, on-the-record commitments on five critical criminal justice issues.
To combat the mass incarceration epidemic, Attorney General Garland must:

▫️Direct prosecutors to stop charging mandatory minimums when alternative charges are available
▫️De-prioritize marijuana prosecutions, as well as misdemeanor possession cases
▫️Support the MORE Act
To begin by reversing the damage done by the Trump administration’s explicit endorsements of police violence, he will need to:

▫️Adopt a federal use of force standard
▫️Prohibit civil asset forfeiture programs that enable the militarization of police departments
Read 7 tweets
17 Feb
BREAKING: Today, the House Judiciary’s Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties hosted a hearing on HR 40, a bill that would not only study the history of slavery and racial discrimination, but also make recommendations for reparations to Congress.
The scars created by hundreds of years of chattel slavery and racially discriminatory government policies are deep and will require real resources and investment in communities that have been harmed.
The aftermath of enslavement left African Americans facing the terrorism of widespread lynchings and targeted massacres.

Black people's lives and human dignity were denied across civic life — from criminal justice, to economic justice, to voting rights.
aclu.org/news/topic/sys…
Read 5 tweets
9 Feb
NEW: We're launching our Systemic Equality agenda — a racial justice program that seeks to address America's legacy of racism and discrimination. Graphic image that displays white text on the left side over
All of the levers of government can work to ensure that ALL people living in America — no matter our race, sexuality, gender identity, disability, religion, or faith — have equal access to our country's promises of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
We're making specific demands of the Biden administration and Congress that will advance societal equity for and empower the civic participation of Black people, close the racial wealth gap, and seek to reconcile our nation's racist past.

These policies include:
Read 14 tweets
3 Feb
Attacks on trans youth in sports are showing up in dozens of state legislatures nationwide.

These bans are discriminatory, harmful, and unscientific. Here's why ⬇️ Bold black text on a pale b...
FACT ONE: Trans girls are girls. Black text on a pale blue b...
FACT TWO: Trans athletes do not have an unfair advantage in sports. Black text on a pale blue b...
Read 6 tweets
3 Feb
Today President Biden signed executive orders that initiate a review process for certain Trump-era anti-immigrant policies, and create a task force focused on reuniting families.
1⃣ Rebuilding asylum: The Biden administration has taken some steps to begin the process of rebuilding our asylum system.

But the lack of concrete action to rescind and unwind more unlawful and inhumane policies that this administration inherited — and now owns — is concerning.
2⃣ Remain in Mexico: It’s positive that the Biden administration doesn’t want to defend this policy before SCOTUS and that it won’t subject any more people to the program.

Biden still needs to make the suspension permanent and help the people who remain stranded in Mexico.
Read 6 tweets

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