US law enforcement can’t buy facial recognition tech for now. Recently, big tech decided to pause new sales in order to assess new risks–especially around the abuse of power.
As more and more pressure comes from privacy advocates and human rights agencies, companies need to re-weigh risk vs reward. The comes on the tail of reports of mass surveillance and racial profiling.
Amazon, Microsoft and IBM are definitely not going to try and put the genie back in the bottle. Most likely, they are taking a wait and see approach to the inevitable regulation.
Of course, in many people’s minds, the ideal scenario is companies self-regulate based on their ethical responsibility to the society benefit from. The harsh reality is this is a strategic decision and an important one. There’s no point in spending resources on something that will be killed by regulation. Sometimes it’s better to slow down a little, and adjust to the changing landscape to maximize earning potential.
As law enforcement continues to demand advanced solutions, tech will answer the call. There is a louder call for law enforcement reform that will have a great impact on those of us that are developing new technologies. We need to align the direction of this development to reflect the society they serve. As well as designing flexible platforms that can quickly when change comes quickly.
The lowest hanging fruit is transparency and accountability baked into whatever products are developed. Limiting the temptation to abuse something through transparency is a simple and effective deterrent.
-jm