Federal government banned from using facial recognition under new bill

< p id = "PWXpMQ "> On Thursday, the Democrats introduced a new bill that would ban federal law enforcement from using facial recognition technology and make it more difficult to use facial recognition technology. local and state police departments.

The Facial Recognitionition and Biometric Technology Moratorium Act of 2020, presented by Sens. Ed Markey (D-MA) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and representatives Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) and Thursday, Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) would prohibit federal agencies from using facial recognition technology and would force Local and state police departments adopt similar policies in order to receive federal grants. The bill would effectively ban the use of technology until Congress passes a law explicitly authorizing it.

"Facial recognition technology is not only a serious threat to our privacy, it also physically endangers Black Americans and other minority populations in our country, said Senator Markey. "As we strive to dismantle the systematic racism that permeates all parts of our society, we cannot ignore the harms that these technologiThey are here. "

The bill comes amid widespread protests against police violence and the growing controversy surrounding facial recognition systems. On Wednesday, Boston voted for ban the use of facial recognition in the city , becoming the second largest municipality in the world to do so. Boston city council voted Wednesday to ban the technology with a veto-majority. California, New Hampshire, and Oregon all ban 'use of technology In police cameras , and Oakland and San Francisco have prohibited their use by city agencies.

Technology is also facing new legal challenges. Earlier this week, the American Civil Liberties Union in Michigan has filed an administrative complaint with the Detroit Police Department over what could be the first known wrongful arrest in the United States involving facial recognition technology According to the ACLU complaint, Detroit law enforcement believed that a man named Robert Williams stole several watches from a store local in January after following a trail provided by facial recognition. Williams was arrested outside his home in January and spent more than 30 hours in a cbetween detention outside Detroit.

The new bill would also directly target one of the federal programs that distribute millions of dollars to state and local law enforcement and correctional services across the country, known as the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Program. Last year, the Byrne grant program made $ 264 million available to state police, according to the program's website .

Although support for Congress is still silent, the proposal would be a huge victory for privacy advocates who have for years urged caution in use of biometric identification systems. "Facial recognition is like nuclear or biological weapons. herepresents such a threat to the future of human society that all the potential benefits are outweighed by the inevitable harms, said Thursday Evan Greer, deputy director of Fight for the Future. “This inherently oppressive technology cannot be reformed or regulated. It should be abolished. "