decides on new applications of artificial intelligence software, including facial recognition products. The process could serve as a model for other tech companies, it says. But the board says these companies shouldn’t be left to rely on their own efforts at self-regulation. Government agencies and courts should become more active, it says.
The ethics board concludes that no jurisdiction should deploy facial recognition technology without a transparent public review process, and it urged governments at all levels to establish regulations to guide companies and their customers to use these tools according to ethical standards.
That public review process, spearheaded by San Francisco, is now continuing in two other Bay Area cities, Oakland and Berkeley, where the issue could be decided next month.
On Thursday, the Detroit Board of Police Commissioners presided over a tense public meeting on a proposed policy governing Detroit’s existing use of facial recognition technology, The Detroit News reported. A vote was delayed.
The ACLU of Massachusetts is also backing a bill that would impose a statewide moratorium on both facial surveillance and other biometric screening technologies by government agencies until the Massachusetts legislature devises safeguards to protect the public interest.
Meanwhile, Axon is working with its outside board to create a formal ethical policy framework by the end of the year. “Axon’s goal is to build powerful new technologies with the right safeguards in place within the spirit of legal and ethical frameworks and community expectations,’’ Smith writes in his blogpost.
“Outside ethical advisory boards like this are a new concept among technology companies, and we are proud to embrace it and design an ethical roadmap that we hope other companies can emulate,’’ Smith says.
Photo Credit: Depositphotos
