Microsoft also “sells face recognition AI technology to police agencies×”

Microsoft President Brad Smith made it clear that it would not sell facial recognition technology to police agencies. Microsoft has so far not provided facial recognition technology to police agencies, but will not provide it until a law governing how to handle it safely and without infringing on civil rights and privacy. When it comes to facial recognition technology, IBM has announced withdrawal, and Amazon has also announced that it will stop selling for a year and take time to introduce better regulations for ethical use.

In addition to IBM, which has removed its hands from facial recognition technology, Microsoft’s decision is almost as close to Amazon’s policy. It does not exclude the possibility of selling to future police agencies. President Smith said other areas will also protect the rights of the people by introducing considerations for decisions to use facial recognition.

Microsoft has a track record of selling IT technology to police agencies. However, in terms of facial recognition technology, the problem of high percentage of white males in the sample dataset for training AI, deviation, and low recognition rate of non-whites or females has surfaced. AI researchers, human rights activists, and lawmakers are concerned about racial prejudice and invasion of privacy in technologies that could potentially participate in the surveillance state regardless of intentions and have warned against selling them to the police.

For this reason, Microsoft has been in a position to refuse to provide facial recognition technology to police agencies. For example, when an Israeli venture company invested in it provided the Israeli government with facial recognition technology used for Palestinian surveillance purposes, the company sold its shares.

Democrats in the United States have submitted to Congress the Justice in Policing Act of 2020 banning the use of real-time facial recognition technology without court approval. If the bill is passed, it could lower the likelihood of infringement of various rights to people who have caused the police to use facial recognition technology. Related information can be found here .