IBM: We Will No Longer Develop Facial Recognition Technology

One of the world's largest information technology companies IBMsigned a very important decision. Arvind Krishna, CEO of the New York-based company, stated in his letter to the US Congress that IBM will no longer be used for general purposes. facial recognition technology or analysis software He stated that he would not develop it.

In accordance with the Trust and Transparency Principles; Krishna stated that they are against all facial recognition technologies offered for mass surveillance, racial profiling, violation of fundamental human rights and freedoms, or any purpose that is not consistent with company values. “We believe now is the time to begin a national conversation about whether and how facial recognition technology should be used by local law enforcement.” he said.

“We should discuss whether facial recognition technology should be used by law enforcement.”

facial recognition software, artificial intelligence It has made great progress in the last decade thanks to developments in the field. However, facial recognition software is often provided by private companies that are little regulated or under the control of federal agencies. human rights violations It caused the door to open.

According to a December 2019 study by the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), most facial recognition algorithms currently used by law enforcement or private firms demographic differences There is a wide range of accuracy between . This leads to discussion of the role of technology in privacy and rights violations. 

There are concerns that facial recognition software may lead to privacy and rights violations

NIST's study comes from a company that is one of several major tech companies selling facial recognition software to law enforcement. AmazonIt did not include 's service. Despite this, it is used by a number of US government agencies, including Florida police and private organizations. Recognition facial recognition technology has been criticized many times in light of mass surveillance debates.

IBM released a public dataset of a facial recognition model in 2018 in an attempt to break down bias and concerns about facial recognition technology, but the firm revealed it without users' consent in January 2019. Flickr'Sharing another data set of approximately one million photos from , caused a huge controversy. 

In its statement at the time, IBM stated that the dataset consisting of publicly available photographs would only be accessible by verified researchers, and said that people who wish could opt out of the dataset. IBM CEO Krishna, also stated in his letter that reform was needed within police organizations and facial recognition technology He stated that abuse should be monitored more closely.