Amazon has created a facial recognition technology that, as advertised on the company’s site, performs tasks like celebrity identification, following customer movement in a store, or perhaps recognizing online content that isn’t safe for children. However this facial recognition technology has another use, and many critics don’t like where its going. The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a Freedom of Information Act request with several local law enforcement agencies to obtain information about Amazon’s technology, and how it’s being used within police departments in Oregon and Florida.
Omar Gallaga of 512 Tech powered by the Austin American Statesman says while Amazon’s Rekognition software can be a good tool for some uses, there are security concerns about who gets the images it collects, and where the data is stored.
What you’ll hear in this segment:
– What Amazon’s Rekognition software does
– Why the technology can be a good tool and a bad one
– What this means for the future of personal privacy
Written by Amber Chavez.
