Discussion

• Vox Rebecca Heilweil on x

  Why it matters that IBM is getting out of the facial recognition business

• @astepanovich Amie Stepanovich on x

  This is a pretty narrow halt - only on police use, and not on any gathering of face data or providing additional access or deletion rights to it. I mean, it's still a win. But doesn't address a lot of problems. https://twitter.com/...

• @carolineha_ Caroline Haskins on x

  Amazon posted a 102-word blog that leaves us with a lot of questions about how it can/can't still distribute Rekognition. In response to just a few of these questions, an Amazon rep told me, “We're not answering any further questions at this time.” https://www.buzzfeednews.com/ .…

• @evanselinger Evan Selinger on x

  This is almost unbelievable! Nonstop activism + timing = Amazon has finally relented and is making a move in the right direction: implementing a one-year moratorium on the police use of its facial recognition tech, Rekognition! h/t @BrendaKLeong https://blog.aboutamazon.com/ ...

• @conmijente @conmijente on x

  Nothing in this statement about whether: 1) AWS will stop taking contracts from police agencies 2) ICE is using Rekognition, & if so, whether they'll now stop 3) No commitment to end to the Ring doorbell camera partnerships with police Let's hold off celebrating just yet. https:/…

• @ronwyden Ron Wyden on x

  No facial recognition system should be deployed unless there are ironclad rules to protect Americans against inaccurate, discriminatory algorithms and misuse. That goes double for people of color, who are more likely to be wrongly identified and subject to FR for no reason. https…

• @howiliv Olivia on x

  they said we'll pause being racist, as a treat😌❤️ https://twitter.com/...

• @evelkneidel @evelkneidel on x

  Who thought spelling it with a K was a good idea? https://twitter.com/...

• @kgosztola Kevin Gosztola on x

  Seattle mayor “banned” use of tear gas for 30 days. Now, Amazon will halt use of facial recognition tool for 1 year. Is this some bizarre west coast Democrat thing? Like if you quarantine things that cause human rights violations for a period, they may lose their abusiveness? htt…

• @mariabustillos Maria Bustillos on x

  couldn't agree less it's a pure pr move that comes with an expiration date, timed for the outrage to pass https://twitter.com/...

• @zackwhittaker Zack Whittaker on x

  Shareholders asked Amazon *a year ago* to stop selling its facial recognition to law enforcement after the ACLU found it falsely matched several Black members of Congress as criminals in a mugshot database. Amazon defeated the effort. http://techcrunch.com/... https://twitter.com…

• @calebsaysthings @calebsaysthings on x

  amazon said “state of the art dystopian surveillance technology is a privilege, not a right.” and during pride month? we love activism ❤️ https://twitter.com/...

• @melissagira Melissa Gira Grant on x

  Except “to help rescue victims of human trafficking” with Ashton Kutcher's charity, among others https://twitter.com/...

• @marietjeschaake Marietje Schaake on x

  Why democratic governments have failed to regulate the most human rights violating technologies in the first place is beyond me. Momentum to course correct is now ↘️ https://twitter.com/...

• @theblackchannel Black Authority on x

  A one year PAUSE? You mean you are trying to DEFLECT our attention until the HEAT DIES DOWN and then it's back to business as usual... https://twitter.com/...

• @lisabloom Lisa Bloom on x

  Protests work. https://www.nytimes.com/...

• @briebriejoy Briahna Joy Gray on x

  If this is the rationale, why set an arbitrary deadline? Why not say they will ban police use of the software until “stronger regulations” are in place? Or also like, forever. https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...

• @alfredwkng @alfredwkng on x

  Speaking of things Amazon won't comment on: the company also declined to say if it was putting a pause on its lobbying efforts for facial recognition along with its moratorium. Amazon spent $16.1 million lobbying Congress in 2019 https://twitter.com/...

• @eff @eff on x

  .@Amazon has just announced a one-year moratorium on police use of its dangerous “Rekognition” facial recognition tool. But Amazon's @ring still partners with 1300 law enforcement agencies to put surveillance tech in the hands of unaccountable police. https://www.eff.org/...

• @mireillemoret Mireille Hildebrandt on x

  “An experiment run by the ACLU in 2018 showed Rekognition incorrectly matched 28 members of Congress to photos of people arrested for a crime. It overwhelmingly misidentified Congress members who are not white.” https://www.theguardian.com/ ...

• @zackwhittaker Zack Whittaker on x

  New: Amazon's says it'll put a moratorium on police using its controversial facial recognition tech for 1 year. But it says nothing about cutting off access to federal agencies or law enforcement. Amazon declined to comment. http://techcrunch.com/......

• @facttank @facttank on x

  In a 2019 survey before current controversies about police, more than Half of U.S. adults said they trusted law enforcement to use facial recognition technology responsibly https://www.pewresearch.org/ ... https://twitter.com/...

• @angryblacklady @angryblacklady on x

  one whole year?! Don't hurt yourself https://twitter.com/...

• @phil_lewis_ Philip Lewis on x

  i can't even remember what happened last week so one year seems troubling https://twitter.com/...

• @cfidd Fiddler on x

  One year? Feels a little like a band-aid on a bullet wound but okay it's still a W https://twitter.com/...

• @sidneyfussell Sid Thee Fussell on x

  when it comes back next year it'll be draped in kente cloth https://twitter.com/...

• @chick_in_kiev Talia Lavin on x

  rekkkognition isnt going away tho https://twitter.com/...

• @parismartineau Paris Martineau on x

  worth remembering that amazon still provides cloud storage services for the CIA, makes $$$ hosting a critical part of the tech behind ICE's deportation operations, and has a laundry list of government contracts https://blog.aboutamazon.com/ ...

• @modernistwitch Jes Skolnik on x

  a one-year moratorium seems like amazon trying to cover their ass by placing a lace handkerchief in front of it https://twitter.com/...

• @leokelion Leo Kelion on x

  Amazon calls a 1yr moratorium on providing its facial recognition tech to the police. This is a big move it had previously resisted on philosophical grounds. https://blog.aboutamazon.com/ ...

• @arielbogle Ariel Bogle on x

  Amazon is introducing a one-year moratorium on police use its facial recognition technology. Follows IBM's similar announcement this week. Still need the fine print, but kind of a remarkable week for the fight over facial recognition tech none the less. https://blog.aboutamazon.c…

• @bacontribe Vanessa Taylor on x

  alright gang, that's one year for us to destroy amazon https://twitter.com/...

• @raxkingisdead @raxkingisdead on x

  one year, or the amount of time amazon thinks it takes us to forget about something, https://twitter.com/...

• @cfarivar Cyrus Farivar on x

  “We hope this one-year moratorium might give Congress enough time to implement appropriate rules, and we stand ready to help if requested.” NARRATOR: Even by 2022, Congress did not pass appropriate rules. https://twitter.com/...

• @waywardwinifred Fred on x

  is this amazons version of mayor jenny implementing a 30 day ban on pepper spray in seattle? https://twitter.com/...

• @raxsha @raxsha on x

  This “temporary ban” on police tech is a blatant PR stunt. Stop development immediately & don't lobby against long term policy bans against policing/military tech. Living in a reality where our rights are granted at the fickle whim of corporate profit exhausts me!!! https://twitt…

• @kansasalps Andrea Peterson on x

  Reminder that this tech has potentially heinous civil liberties implications because it is less accurate in IDing people with darker complexions, and Amazon was pitching it to ICE https://www.thedailybeast.com/ ... https://twitter.com/...

• @karengeier @karengeier on x

  Lmao don't shit yourselves from straining so hard https://twitter.com/...

• @cfarivar Cyrus Farivar on x

  It's also worth noting that in 2018, Ring (which Amazon owns) sent this video to police saying that the company is working on “future versions” that “will allow for suspicious activity detection and person recognition.” https://www.youtube.com/... https://twitter.com/...

• @lauren_feiner Lauren Feiner on x

  Facial recognition has been a major concern for privacy-conscious protesters. But without federal/widespread state regulation, there's still other facial recognition companies that will continue to contract with the government with little guidance. https://www.cnbc.com/...

• @alexsjacquez Alex Jacquez on x

  what happens in one year, does racism expire or something https://twitter.com/...

• @katecrawford Kate Crawford on x

  First IBM, now Amazon: a one year moratorium on facial recognition. Credit goes to @jovialjoy @timnitGebru @rajiinio and all those who have worked to show the dangers of these systems. https://twitter.com/...

• @amywebb Amy Webb on x

  So now the clock is ticking. What happens if there are no norms, standards, or regulations in a year? https://www.cnbc.com/...

• @bigzaphod Sean Heber on x

  “Banned until this all blows over.” https://twitter.com/...

• @mehedih_ Mehedi Hassan on x

  lol “for a year” good grief https://twitter.com/...

• @laurenshirsch Lauren Hirsch on x

  A few days after IBM makes a similar announcement, Amazon says its banning police use of facial recognition technology for one year https://www.cnbc.com/...

• @jumoffit @jumoffit on x

  Imagine being Jeff Bezos and doing this after IBM announces they won't work with law enforcement and 20 mins after NASCAR banned confederate flags lol. https://twitter.com/...

• @qtrresearch @qtrresearch on x

  Hey you guys, why not take a year off before we go back to being the machine world from The Matrix. That's a nice empty gesture if I've ever seen one. An actual, non virtue signaling gesture, would be eliminating the technology altogether. https://twitter.com/...