Ban dangerous facial recognition technology that amplifies racist policing
January 25, 2021
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Amnesty International today launches a global campaign to ban the use of facial recognition systems, a form of mass surveillance that amplifies racist policing and threatens the right to protest.
The
Ban the Scan campaign kicks off with New York City and will then expand to focus on the use of facial recognition in other parts of the world in 2021. Facial recognition systems are a form of mass surveillance that violate the right to privacy and threaten the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and expression.
The technology exacerbates systemic racism as it could disproportionately impact people of color, who are already subject to discrimination and violations of their human rights by law enforcement officials. Black people are also most at risk of being misidentified by facial recognition systems.
Image via Complex Original
When thinking of the 2014 Ferguson protests, many forget their political prisoners. The positive impact of the Black Lives Matter movement did not save Ferguson protestors who rose up in the wake of the killing of Michael Brown, an 18-year-old Black man from getting lost in the emotional burden and politics of social justice. In fact, the last political prisoner from Ferguson, Josh Williams, is seeking parole after serving an eight-year sentence for a charge fabricated with little evidence. When Williams was locked away, he was only 19 still a teenager. Years later, many Black youth organizers and activists are fighting to protect their rights and personal freedom.