Amazon shareholders look to block facial recognition tech sales to police

A group of Amazon shareholders are trying to prevent the company from selling its facial recognition software to law enforcement agencies out of concern for the technology’s impact on civil liberties.

Shareholders filed a resolution Thursday to prohibit selling Amazon’s facial recognition software, known as Rekognition, to government entities until the company’s board looks into its potential use and finds that “the technology does not cause or contribute to actual or potential violations of civil and human rights.”

“It’s a familiar pattern: a leading tech company marketing what is hailed as breakthrough technology without understanding or assessing the many real and potential harms of that product,” said Michael Connor, the executive director of Open MIC, a nonprofit trying to encourage shareholder activism at tech companies.

“Sales of Rekognition to government represent considerable risk for the company and investors. That’s why it’s imperative those sales be halted immediately,” Connor said. Why it’s an issue: Black lawmakers, civil rights groups and privacy activists have criticized Amazon’s contracts with law enforcement agencies for Rekognition out of concern for the technology’s accuracy and how it could be abused by police.

Amazon’s response: Amazon Web Services (AWS), the subsidiary developing the technology, has argued that Rekognition is reliable and that its law enforcement clients are subject to a strict user policy. Read more here.