Amazon's Jeff Bezos: We're crafting facial recognition regulation proposals
Amazon is crafting proposed regulations to govern facial recognition after facing widespread criticism over its own entry into the fledging technology, company CEO Jeff Bezos said Wednesday.
“Our public policy team is actually working on facial recognition regulations, and it makes a lot of sense to regulate that,” Bezos said while speaking at a launch event for Amazon Alexa-enabled devices, according to Reuters. “It’s the perfect example of something that has really positive uses, so you don’t want to put the brakes on it. At the same time, there’s lots of potential for abuses with that kind of technology, and so you do want regulations.”
Bezos' remarks came as Amazon and other tech giants faces regulatory scrutiny and antitrust probes related to their business practices. Amazon’s facial recognition platform, dubbed “Rekognition,” has drawn intense scrutiny, with critics, including the American Civil Liberties Union, pointing out cases in which the software delivered false matches or exhibited instances of racial bias.
Critics have singled out Amazon’s efforts to market and sell its facial recognition technology to law enforcement agencies, arguing that it could be misused or make critical errors. In June 2018, a group of Amazon employees demanded in a letter that Bezos stop selling Rekognition to law enforcement agencies.
Amazon shareholders rejected a pair of proposals last May that sought to limit the company’s ability to sell facial recognition technology. One dismissed measure would have banned Amazon from selling the software to government agencies unless a review found that the sale wouldn’t infringe on civil liberties, while the other called on the e-commerce giant to allow an independent review into its possible negative impact on civil liberties and privacy.
Calls for federal regulation of facial recognition technology have received bipartisan support. House Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), called for formal guidelines on the software before “it gets out of control.”
Microsoft executives have also called for regulations, according to Reuters.
