By Kaveesha Fernando
SILICON VALLEY, USA (CWBN)_ Massachusetts is set to become the first state to ban facial recognition technology in the US as state lawmakers approved the measure last week, and it appears that key decision makers in both the public and private sector have recognised the dangers of the technology.
The Bay State isn’t alone. San Francisco, Oakland, Portland and Boston are part of a growing list of US cities which have already been able to successfully ban the technology. Interestingly, it seems that tech companies also back this new trend. IBM and Microsoft are just two of the major companies which have voiced opposition to law enforcement using the technology.
It remains a well-established fact in the industry that facial recognition identifies women and persons of colour with less accuracy than with Caucasian men. Other errors with facial profiling which can have serious real world impacts when used by law enforcement have also been highlighted repeatedly.
Also relevant to the issue is the discussion around policing in the US. Many would feel less worried about errors in facial recognition if suspects were offered equitable treatment. Police brutality and racial profiling has been a contentious topic in the United States for some time, but debate intensified to a fever pitch following the killing of US citizen George Floyd. Weeks of protests followed the incident, and “defund the police” has become a battle cry among left leaning Americans. However, with the United States being one of the easiest places in the world to purchase a gun, law enforcement is one of the most dangerous fields in the nation to work in.
