Facial Recognition Technology:
Law Enforcement Use of Facial Recognition Technology
Law enforcement use of facial recognition technology often violates civil rights. Thirty-nine civil society organizations released a joint statement about how these technologies pose a severe threat to everyone’s safety, wellbeing, and freedom. The joint statement highlights how facial recognition technology is fundamentally discriminatory, explains how it exacerbates justice in policing, and urges Congress to enact a nationwide ban on its use by law enforcement.
Facial Recognition and Biased Test Proctoring: Demand Letter to the California State Bar
We sent a letter to the California State Bar and ExamSoft, demanding they stop using Facial Recognition Technology to administer the bar exam, because it is disproportionately inaccurate in identifying women and people of color. The letter also includes alternative administration methods that can be used to administer the bar exam with equal efficacy.
Letter to the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board
The Digital Justice Initiative was invited to submit comments to the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB) ahead of their roundtable about the use of facial recognition technology (FRT) for aviation security. The Lawyers’ Committee is gravely concerned about the misuse of FRT. People of color suffer disproportionate harms from domestic surveillance, both because surveillance technologies are frequently infected with biases and because they are often used in a discriminatory fashion.
Problems with Facial Recognition Technology
On Feb. 1, 2020, Adonne Washington spoke on a panel about civil rights concerns over Facial Recognition Technology. Washington emphasized how facial recognition technology has negatively impacted marginalized communities, the need for greater transparency and trust moving forward and limitations on where the technology should be used.