May 19, 2021

According to Reuters, Amazon has extended its ban on law enforcement using its facial recognition software “until further notice.”

The ban was due to expire in June this year.

More than a year ago, Amazon employees called on the company to scale back its facial recognition project due to the documented racial bias in the technology and fears that it could increase police violence against minorities.

Amazon announced a one-year moratorium on police clients for the product and urged the government to use the one-year moratorium to implement rules on the ethical use of facial recognition technology.

However, with the exception of a few states that have banned the technology, and Massachusetts, which has passed a modified law to use the technology, no federal law has addressed the police use of facial recognition.

For more information, read the original story in The Verge.