IBM has announced it will no longer build facial recognition amid growing concern over the technology’s implications.
In a letter to Congress, IBM CEO Arvind Krishna wrote:
“IBM firmly opposes and will not condone uses of any [facial recognition] technology, including facial recognition technology offered by other vendors, for mass surveillance, racial profiling, violations of basic human rights and freedoms, or any purpose which is not consistent with our values and Principles of Trust and Transparency.
We believe now is the time to begin a national dialogue on whether and how facial recognition technology should be employed by domestic law enforcement agencies.”
IBM has made clear it wants nothing to do with developing any technology which could be used for mass surveillance, especially when it continues to have serious accuracy problems which may lead to automated racial profiling.