November 4, 2024

Tishamarie online

Specialists in technology

Workers criticize Amazon’s response to protests, its work with law enforcement

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Amazon is drawing a fresh round of criticism over  the use of its Rekognition software to police. 


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Employees are criticizing Amazon after the tech giant released a statement condemning the treatment of black people in the US.

On Twitter Tuesday, a group of Amazon workers under the account @WeWontBuildIt, “calling for accountability and transparency in the tech we build,” according to their Twitter bio, asked which police contracts Amazon has cut. The ACLU also tweeted, “Cool tweet. Will you commit to stop selling face recognition surveillance technology that supercharges police abuse?”

Amazon’s drawn criticism for licensing its software Rekognition to law enforcement agencies from civil liberties groups as well as experts in the AI field, who even asked the company to stop selling the software to police. The fear is that this software could be abused and used to target people of color, immigrants, religious minorities and the like.

Amazon and @WeWontBuildIt did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The company’s statement came in the wake of protests over the death of a Minnesota man, George Floyd, who died in police custody on May 25 after then-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was captured on video pressing his knee on Floyd’s neck for more than eight minutes. Since Floyd’s death, protests have erupted around the world and prompted a variety of corporate statements addressing the matter. 

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