This archive report was first published on 18 June 2020.
As the United States grappled with anti-racism protests in 2020, tech firms publicly disavowed selling facial recognition technology to police forces, citing concerns over its use in surveillance and potential infringement on civil liberties.
Facial recognition technology has numerous applications, from unlocking smartphones to simplifying transactions in stores. However, its integration into China's massive public surveillance system and social credit experiment has raised alarms over its potential misuse.
Microsoft and Amazon announced they would suspend sales of facial recognition software to police forces, while IBM said it would exit the business. Privacy and rights groups worry about the implications of the use of facial recognition technology by law enforcement.
"It is an extremely intrusive form of surveillance and can seriously undermine our freedoms and eventually our society as a whole," says Privacy International.
"The biggest danger is that this technology will be used for general, suspicionless surveillance systems," notes the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
Clearview AI, a Californian startup, has been at the center of controversy over its facial recognition tool, which can identify individuals from social media photos. The company has signed up 600 law enforcement agencies worldwide and has not acceded to demands from social media sites to delete users' photos.
Facial recognition technology is already widely available, with companies like BriefCam and Huawei exporting their products to various countries. A joint network for facial recognition searches is being considered by 10 European police forces, and France's interior ministry is expected to unveil proposals to widen the use of the technology.
