Add your name to tell the Trump Administration, “Stop Weaponizing Facial Recognition Technology!”

A study released in December 2019 by our own federal government found that facial-recognition systems misidentified people of color more often than white people, in some cases up to 100 times as likely.

This is understandable. These systems are built by training formulas to identify faces, but if the faces used in training the formula are mostly white, the formula can still learn systemic biases.

But federal and state law enforcement have, and are continuing to use facial recognition software -- some of the very flawed tools that have contributed to police brutality against people of color. And now, we have reports that federal agencies are using this technology to surveil protesters peacefully exercising their First Amendment right against police brutality and racial injustice, just as they did to the Black Lives Matter movement in 2014.

This is a direct attack on free speech, and endangers countless people of color who are targeted unjustly through false identifications, many of whom, even if ultimately declared innocent, must finance lengthy legal battles few have the resources for.

We need to put a full stop on facial recognition and other biometric technologies used to stifle and chill peaceful free speech.

Tell the Trump Administration: Stop Weaponizing Facial Recognition Technology