|
| PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Dear Jeff, We are troubled by the recent report from
the ACLU exposing our company’s practice of selling AWS Rekognition, a
powerful facial recognition technology, to police departments and
government agencies. We don’t have to wait to find out how these
technologies will be used. We already know that in the midst of historic
militarization of police, renewed targeting of Black activists, and the
growth of a federal deportation force currently engaged in human rights
abuses — this will be another powerful tool for the surveillance state,
and ultimately serve to harm the most marginalized. We are not alone in
this view: over 40 civil rights organizations signed an open letter in
opposition to the governmental use of facial recognition, while over
150,000 individuals signed another petition delivered by the ACLU. We
also know that Palantir runs on AWS. And we know that ICE relies on
Palantir to power its detention and deportation programs. Along with
much of the world we watched in horror recently as U.S. authorities tore
children away from their parents. Since April 19, 2018 the Department
of Homeland Security has sent nearly 2,000 children to mass detention
centers. This treatment goes against U.N. Refugee Agency guidelines that
say children have the right to remain united with their parents, and
that asylum-seekers have a legal right to claim asylum. In the face of
this immoral U.S. policy, and the U.S.’s increasingly inhumane treatment
of refugees and immigrants beyond this specific policy, we are deeply
concerned that Amazon is implicated, providing infrastructure and
services that enable ICE and DHS. Technology like ours is playing
an increasingly critical role across many sectors of society. What is
clear to us is that our development and sales practices have yet to
acknowledge the obligation that comes with this"
-----------------------------------------------------------------
STORY:
"Over 100 Amazon employees, including senior software engineers, signed
a letter asking Jeff Bezos to stop selling facial-recognition software
to police," by reporter Greg Sandoval, published by Business Insider on
June 22, 2018. (Greg Sandoval is Business Insider's Google reporter. He
has worked as a staff writer
for The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, The Verge and CNET.)
SUMMARY:
Amazon employees signed and sent a letter to CEO Jeff Bezos asking the
company to stop selling facial-recognition software to law-enforcement
agencies and to cease its business dealings with Palantir. The
letter was signed by over 100 Amazon workers, including senior-level
engineers, sources told Business Insider. You can read the full letter
below.
GIST: "On Thursday a group of Amazon employees sent a signed letter to CEO
Jeff Bezos calling on the company to stop selling a sophisticated
facial-recognition software to law-enforcement agencies. Business
Insider has learned that more than 100 Amazon workers signed the letter,
including some senior engineers. Those who signed the letter want the
company to cease "providing
infrastructure to Palantir (the company that builds predictive policing
tools) and any other Amazon partners who enable (Immigration and Customs
Enforcement)," according to documents reviewed by Business Insider.
They also ask that Amazon "implement strong transparency and
accountability measures" that identify which law enforcement agencies
are already using the company's technology. Last May, the American Civil
Liberties Union reported that Amazon
had “officially entered the surveillance business.” The ACLU said that
it had seen Amazon’s marketing materials for Rekognition and that it had
focused on selling the software to governments and police. The ACLU
also wrote that Rekognition, powered by artificial intelligence, could
in real time "identify, track and analyze" the faces of up to 100 people
from a single image. In a blog post three weeks ago, Dr. Matt Wood, general manager of
artificial intelligence at Amazon Web Services, defended Rekognition,
saying the technology was already benefitting society by "preventing
human trafficking" and "inhibiting child exploitation." "Each organization choosing to employ technology must act
responsibly," Wood wrote. "AWS takes its responsibilities seriously. But
we believe it is the wrong approach to impose a ban on promising new
technologies because they might be used by bad actors." The letter to Bezos is the latest in a recent string of employee
revolts at some of the tech sector's biggest companies. Many tech
workers don't want to help create software or other tech that might be
used to wage war or conduct surveillance on the public. The Hill first reported about the existence of the letter. At Google, employees not only circulated a petition
that demanded Google stop supplying artificial-intelligence tools that
assisted the US Department of Defense to analyze drone-video footage,
but someone within the company also leaked some embarrassing emails that
showed the extent of management's ambitions on working with the
military. Eventually, Google relented,
and earlier this month the company promised not to make AI weapons or
use the technology for anything that could cause harm. Microsoft
employees followed suit by calling on management to end its cloud-computing contract with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Read the full letter to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos below: Dear
Jeff, We are troubled by the recent report from
the ACLU exposing our company’s practice of selling AWS Rekognition, a
powerful facial recognition technology, to police departments and
government agencies. We don’t have to wait to find out how these
technologies will be used. We already know that in the midst of historic
militarization of police, renewed targeting of Black activists, and the
growth of a federal deportation force currently engaged in human rights
abuses — this will be another powerful tool for the surveillance state,
and ultimately serve to harm the most marginalized. We are not alone in
this view: over 40 civil rights organizations signed an open letter in
opposition to the governmental use of facial recognition, while over
150,000 individuals signed another petition delivered by the ACLU. We
also know that Palantir runs on AWS. And we know that ICE relies on
Palantir to power its detention and deportation programs. Along with
much of the world we watched in horror recently as U.S. authorities tore
children away from their parents. Since April 19, 2018 the Department
of Homeland Security has sent nearly 2,000 children to mass detention
centers. This treatment goes against U.N. Refugee Agency guidelines that
say children have the right to remain united with their parents, and
that asylum-seekers have a legal right to claim asylum. In the face of
this immoral U.S. policy, and the U.S.’s increasingly inhumane treatment
of refugees and immigrants beyond this specific policy, we are deeply
concerned that Amazon is implicated, providing infrastructure and
services that enable ICE and DHS. Technology like ours is playing
an increasingly critical role across many sectors of society. What is
clear to us is that our development and sales practices have yet to
acknowledge the obligation that comes with this. Focusing solely on
shareholder value is a race to the bottom, and one that we will not
participate in. We refuse to build the platform that powers ICE, and we
refuse to contribute to tools that violate human rights. As
ethically concerned Amazonians, we demand a choice in what we build,
and a say in how it is used. We learn from history, and we understand
how IBM’s systems were employed in the 1940s to help Hitler. IBM did not
take responsibility then, and by the time their role was understood, it
was too late. We will not let that happen again. The time to act is
now. We call on you to:
1. Stop selling facial recognition services to law enforcement
2. Stop providing infrastructure to Palantir and any other Amazon partners who enable ICE.
3.
Implement strong transparency and accountability measures, that include
enumerating which law enforcement agencies and companies supporting law
enforcement agencies are using Amazon services, and how.
Our
company should not be in the surveillance business; we should not be in
the policing business; we should not be in the business of supporting
those who monitor and oppress marginalized populations. Sincerely, Amazonians.
The entire story can be read at:
http://uk.businessinsider.com/over-100-amazon-employees-sign-letter-jeff-bezos-stop-selling-facial-recognition-software-police-2018-6
PUBLISHER'S
NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. Keep your eye on the Charles
Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous
employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable
effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his
protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic
pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses
on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com. Harold Levy; Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog; |
