Of course law enforcement agencies want every tool available to fight crime. But which tools and technologies should be available to law enforcement? The eternal tug-of-war between the safety interest in crime-fighting and the privacy interests of citizens is now attempting to balance the use of artificial intelligence and facial recognition software, with tech companies and civil rights groups asking the government for guidance.

On Friday, Microsoft President Brad Smith called for “thoughtful government regulation and for the development of norms around acceptable uses” for facial recognition technology. Hours later, ACLU legislative counsel Neema Singh Guliani said, “Congress should take immediate action to put the brakes on this technology with a moratorium on its use by government, given that it has not been fully debated and its use has never been explicitly authorized.” So, who’s the government going to side with?

“In a democratic republic,” Smith asserted, “there is no substitute for decision making by our elected representatives regarding the issues that require the balancing of public safety with the essence of our democratic freedoms. Facial recognition will require the public and private sectors alike to step up – and to act.”

Similar employee uprisings occurred at Google and Microsoft, after reports surfaced that the latter was working with ICE.

Who’s at the Wheel?

So how likely is the government to rein in facial recognition tech? Federal and state legislatures have been loath to place constraints on police surveillance. They’ve mostly left that up to the courts, who have taken a scattershot approach to regulating the myriad technologies used for data collection, information access, and location tracking.

Related Resources:

  • ACLU Calls for a Moratorium on Government Use of Facial Recognition Technologies (TechCrunch)
  • Can Supreme Court Stop NSA Surveillance? (FindLaw’s Law and Daily Life)
  • What Is the USA FREEDOM Act? (FindLaw’s Law and Daily Life)
  • Who Regulates How Police Use New Tech? (FindLaw Blotter)

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