Following the introduction of the Justice in Policing Act of 2020 on June 8, a number of tech companies have self-imposed restrictions on facial recognition technology due to concerns over bias—particularly in the context of law enforcement. In addition to self-imposed restrictions, these companies have voiced support for legislation addressing and limiting the use of facial recognition by law enforcement.
In a letter to Congress, IBM declared that it no longer offers general purpose facial recognition or analysis software; citing concerns of misuse including mass surveillance, racial profiling, and violations of basic human rights and freedoms. The next day, Amazon announced a one-year moratorium on police use of its facial recognition technology. Microsoft followed suit and stated that it will not sell facial-recognition technology to police departments in the United States until a national law is developed to govern the technology.
