Amazon facial-recognition software on 2nd test phase
The Orlando Police Department on Thursday launched a second trial period to test Amazon’s controversial facial recognition technology.
The initial trial was between December and June. The software, called Rekognition, is advertised as being able to pick a person’s face out of a crowd and track their movements in real time.
The free second trial phrase will last nine months, the department said. Eight cameras, including four at OPD headquarters, three IRIS cameras downtown and one at another city facility, will be used for the pilot, the department said.
“The pilots have provided a way for the City of Orlando to test this innovative technology in a responsible and deliberate manner to determine if the technology has value for use by the City to further its efforts in utilizing the best tools, technology and training to continue to keep the community safe in today’s everchanging and evolving world,” a press release said.
The city said the system will not be used for investigative purposes and will only track the faces of police officers who volunteered to be part of the pilot.
Privacy rights groups, including the ACLU, have raised concerns about the program, saying it could be misused in discriminatory ways, such as to target immigrants, people of color or protesters.
This week, Medium reported that more than 450 Amazon employees have signed a letter to CEO Jeff Bezos “strongly protesting” the company’s sale of the surveillance technology.
Outgoing police Chief John Mina, who’s running for Orange County sheriff, has argued the system could be used to prevent violent crime.
As an example, Mina has said the software could have been used to track Markeith Loyd, who disappeared for a month after he allegedly killed his ex-girlfriend and again for another week after he allegedly shot to death Orlando police Lt. Debra Clayton last year.
Mayor Buddy Dyer has noted that facial recognition technology is used on iPhones and by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol to scan people entering the country.