Microsoft bans police from using its facial recognition software

Microsoft won’t sell its facial recognition software to police and law enforcement until federal regulations for the controversial technology are in place, company president Brad Smith told the Washington Post during an event Thursday morning. The move comes in the wake of nation-wide protests against police brutality, and follows similar measures from Amazon and IBM.

“The bottom line for us is to protect the human rights of people as this technology is deployed,” Smith told the Post, adding that the company has not previously sold the technology to law enforcement.

Consumer advocates and civil liberties groups have long warned about facial recognition technology, particularly with respects to the police. Two years ago, the ACLU began calling on tech giants to stop providing the technology to governments and law enforcement agencies, arguing that it posed a potential threat, especially to immigrants and people of color. Last year, Microsoft quietly pulled a massive database consisting of over 10 million images from the internet after it was linked to the Chinese government’s crackdown on ethnic Muslims.

Microsoft did not immediately respond to a request for additional comment on the move.