Amazon Won’t Let Police Use Its Facial Recognition Technology For One Year

TOPLINE

After facing scrutiny for its ties to police in the wake of the George Floyd protests, Amazon said Wednesday it would ban police from using its controversial facial recognition technology for one year.

KEY FACTS

Crucial quote

“We’ve advocated that governments should put in place stronger regulations to govern the ethical use of facial recognition technology, and in recent days, Congress appears ready to take on this challenge,” Amazon said in a statement. “We hope this one-year moratorium might give Congress enough time to implement appropriate rules, and we stand ready to help if requested.”

Key background

While Amazon and CEO Jeff Bezos released public statements this week affirming that Black Lives Matter, critics noted that the company has continued selling Rekognition to law enforcement agencies. Though activists and Amazon employees put pressure on Bezos to cut ties with police departments in 2018, the company stood firm at the time. “Our quality of life would be much worse today if we outlawed new technology because some people could choose to abuse the technology. Imagine if customers couldn’t buy a computer because it was possible to use that computer for illegal purposes?” Amazon said in 2018.