Michelle Bachelet, High Commissioner for Human Rights at the United Nations (UN), held Thursday summoned not to use facial recognition software for demonstrations for the time being. According to Bachelet, the technology violates demonstrators’ rights.
Following the death of George Floyd, who died after a cop pressed his knee to the neck for minutes, massive demonstrations against racism and police brutality have sprung up in the United States. As a result, there is a fear that facial recognition will be used unjustly against protesters.
“In a worrying development, states are increasingly using facial recognition technology to identify protesters, sometimes in real time,” said Peggy Hicks of the United Nations Human Rights Council (OHCHR). According to her, this happens despite the technology being prone to errors.
“In this context, this means that misidentification can lead to, for example, wrongful arrest or prosecution. These risks, we know, are significantly greater for women and people of color, increasing the likelihood that facial recognition technology will sustain and enhance discrimination.”
The UN therefore calls for the temporary cessation of the use of the technology in demonstrations until conditions regarding surveillance and transparency can be met.
Facial recognition under attack
The use of facial recognition has been under attack for some time. For example, critics say that the large-scale recognition of faces violates civil rights and privacy. The technique is also less able to recognize women and black people.
Amazon announced earlier this month for a year stop providing facial recognition software to police in the United States. Microsoft also says that the police do not like the technology to provide. IBM previously announced it would go all the way stop with the development of facial recognition technology.
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