A top House Democrat said an effective way to tackle the problems posed by facial recognition software is to target Big Tech companies such as Amazon, IBM, and Microsoft, raising the possibility the government could clamp down on the controversial technology using antitrust powers.
Rep. David Cicilline of Rhode Island, the top Democrat on the House antitrust panel, along with multiple fellow Democrats and Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee, expressed concern about the privacy, accuracy, and fairness of facial recognition in a call for the technology to be regulated.
Amazon and other tech companies that sell facial recognition software to law enforcement agencies have come under pressure in the past year from civil liberties advocates and their own workers.
“Part of this is facilitated by the monopoly power of these large technology platforms,” said Cicilline at a House hearing on issues raised by police use of the technology Tuesday.
“So, I think it also requires us to regulate how private companies can provide this technology to law enforcement and larger questions about how we have to rein in Big Tech,” he added.
HUMAN AND CIVIL RIGHTS GROUPS CALL FOR BAN ON POLICE FACIAL RECOGNITION TECHNOLOGY
More than half of all U.S. adults are already in face recognition databases used for criminal investigations, according to Georgetown University’s Center on Privacy & Technology.
At least seven states have passed laws restricting the government’s use of facial recognition technology, and many other states are considering similar bills.
Amazon said earlier this month it would indefinitely ban police use of its facial recognition software amid growing criticism of the technology.
Members of both parties have expressed interest in restricting law enforcement’s use of facial recognition, regardless of improvements made to the technology.
“I think the issues which we’ve discussed today are not just issues with the accuracy of the technology. I think we’re talking about a total invasion of privacy, which is absolutely unacceptable,” said Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona, the House Judiciary homeland security panel’s top Republican.
Civil and human rights advocacy organizations have called for bans on the technology, arguing face recognition systems disproportionately affect women and people with darker skin because of inaccuracies with the technology and a history of racial discrimination or marginalization by law enforcement.
The groups say most people do not know when they are being tracked by the technology and are having their privacy infringed upon without reasonable suspicion of criminal wrongdoing.
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“Facial recognition surveillance is more like nuclear or biological weapons than it is like alcohol and cigarettes. It’s too dangerous to be effectively regulated. We need to simply prohibit its use,” said Evan Greer, director of the digital advocacy group Fight for the Future, in a statement following the hearing.
