Late on 8th June 2020, IBM made the surprising announcement that it will no longer be working on facial recognition technology for general use. This means that the company will immediately put an end to this arm of its business. It also considers handing over its research to the government.
Arvind Krishna, IBM’s CEO made the news public in a letter written to the United States Congress. In the letter, Krishna explained why IBM was stopping its facial recognition innovations. He 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.”
You can read the full letter here: IBM CEO’s Letter to Congress on Racial Justice Reform
Also read:
– The Power of Facial Recognition Technology: Should You Be Worried?
– Microsoft and Google Disagree On Proposed Ban Of Facial Recognition
– Facial Recognition App Clearview, Raises Privacy Concerns In The United States
Facial recognition technology has been the center of many tech controversies in recent time and IBM is definitely not alone. Many other tech giants like; Facebook, Microsoft, Google and Amazon have also come under scrutiny over their use of facial recognition.
The issue boils down to compromising people’s privacy. Clearview AI is one of the most popular companies involved in this kind of controversy. In fact, according to a data leak; the controversial company allegedly has 2,200 organisation in 27 countries that use its facial recognition tool. Reports claim that the company has over 3 billion images on its database, collected from different sources.
Many of the images used in facial recognition tech, like those mentioned to be contained in Clearview AI’s database, are collected without a person’s permission. While governments are placing some sanctions on facial recognition use, there is only so little that they can do. They are also patronising these facial recognition vendors as well.
Thus, likely, IBM’s move to relinquish control of this powerful tool will set the pace for other involved to do likewise. But you should not hold your breath on that. It will be nothing short of a miracle to get some of these companies to let go of the power that facial recognition technology gives them.
IBM CEO Arvind Krishna also outlined detailed policy proposals to advance racial equality in the US. This is timely advice as the country faces unrest over the killing of George Floyd.
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