Amazon halts use of facial recognition software by police

Facial recognition software - face detection

The e-commerce giant hopes the move “might give Congress enough time to put in place appropriate rules” Amazon announced last week that it would stop allowing police to use its facial recognition software for one year. This places a wider spotlight on the rising concerns over the technology’s unfair discrimination on certain groups of people. The company did not provide any explanation for having made the decision. Amazon released a short blog post announcing the withdrawal of its facial recognition software use by police. That said, it comes at a…

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Anaheim Police to employ facial recognition software in pursuit of criminals

Facial recognition software - police with smartphone - technology

Following a year and a half of pilot testing, city officials are prepared to invest in the technology. Anaheim city officials are moving ahead with investments into facial recognition software for police use. The technology has undergone an 18-month pilot test phase, and the city wants to equip officers with its benefits. The software allows police to compare criminal suspects against databases of mugshots. A new report from Anaheim city staff detailed the cost, features and use for the facial recognition software. The city will be paying $35,000 per year…

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Free facial recognition software has ability to ID faces in photos

Facial Recognition Software - Photo Sleuth - Virginia Tech

A Virginia Tech assistant professor of computer science seeks to uncover the identities of Civil War soldiers. Kurt Luther, the computer science assistant prof, has developed a free facial recognition software platform that utilizes crowdsourcing to significantly enhance the ability of algorithms to identify faces in photographs. The software program, which is known as Photo Sleuth, was developed by Luther in his efforts to uncover the mysteries of the almost 4 million photographs of Civil War-era images that may exist in the historical record, reports EurekAlert!. Via Photo Sleuth, users…

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Amazon facial recognition technology found to be gender and racial bias

Amazon facial recognition technology - algorithim - computer - tech

An MIT lab study has revealed Amazon’s Rekognition underperformed when trying to identify females or individuals with darker skin. Amazon facial recognition technology, Rekognition, is widely used by police departments and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) across the US. However, recent research has revealed that the deep-learning software, which has emerged as a leader in the facial recognition field, still has a few serious bugs to work out in regard to gender and racial bias. Rekognition made no mistakes when identifying the gender of a light-skinned man. According to a…

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British supermarkets to trial facial recognition software for age verification purposes

Facial Recognition Software - Technology - Digital - Age Verification

Facial recognition will be used for the first time in UK supermarkets. Facial recognition software will be used in UK supermarkets for the purpose of verifying the age of people purchasing cigarettes and alcohol. This is the first time this technology will be used in the nation’s supermarkets. The pilot project is slated to be operational by the end of 2018. By the end of the year, the facial recognition software program is expected to roll out and is likely to be applied more widely in UK supermarkets in 2019.…

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