For the second time in a workweek , Amazon is trying to score PR brownie points for doing next to nothing in the wake of global anti - antiblack protests — this time for the weakly possible concession around some of its most grievous software . And so intone our modest refrain : Fuck off !
Amazon has a informal relationship with thedefenseapparatus and law enforcement in general . Neither are especially democratic in this here and now in time , with Americans reaching a tipping point in their corporate apathy toward the mistreatment and extrajudicial killing of BIPOC someone at the hands of the latter . There arethousands of peoplein the street every day , call for an end to patrol as an institution .
Suddenly , Amazon ’s conclusion to licence racially biased facial recognition software package to police departments ( though it wo n’t say which or how many ) and to seek to deal it to Immigration and Customs Enforcement ( though neither party will sustain if it actively uses the merchandise suite ) has become a true indebtedness .
Photo: Getty
smell out this ocean modification , IBM this week put its facial recognition pursuitson ice . I ’d like to conceive of this was partly done out of echt fear for the abuse potential such applied science carries , but it also let IBM bet like a progressive company while bow out of a distance it was n’t exactly dominating to begin with . Google and Microsofthave scaled back their exploitation or sale of similar products in the past .
And now , dead last of the tech giant , Amazon has announced in afour - sentence postit would determine the function of Rekognition — the unbelievably dumb name they gave this ware — for one ( 1 ) year .
A year !
“ We ’re implementing a one - year moratorium on police use of Amazon ’s facial recognition technology , ” the station express . “ We desire this one - yr moratorium might give Congress enough time to implement appropriate ruler , and we stand quick to help if requested . ”
Not only is Amazon and its army of lobbyists working to ensure any facial recognition statute law on the booksis favourable , now it ’s giving the governing a deadline .
Notably , the C. W. Post says nothing about a check to Rekognition ’s use in other defense spheres , or any implicit promises to arrest internal development .
Keep all this in mind the next clip Bezos try toscore pointsby dunking on a antiblack customer on Instagram .
AmazonFacial RecognitionJeff Bezos
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