I’m an Amazon Employee. My Company Shouldn’t Sell Facial Recognition Tech to Police.
Amazon’s ‘Rekognition’ program shouldn’t be used as a tool for mass surveillance
The authenticity of the following anonymous op-ed has been verified by Medium’s editorial staff. Our columnist, Trevor Timm, has also interviewed the op-ed’s writer. You can read that here.
When a company puts new technologies into the world, it has a responsibility to think about the consequences. Amazon, where I work, is currently allowing police departments around the country to purchase its facial recognition product, Rekognition, and I and other employees demand that we stop immediately.
A couple weeks ago, my co-workers delivered a letter to this effect, signed by over 450 employees, to Jeff Bezos and other executives. The letter also contained demands to kick Palantir, the software firm that powers much of ICE’s deportation and tracking program, off Amazon Web Services and to institute employee oversight for ethical decisions.
We know Bezos is aware of these concerns and the industry-wide conversation happening right now. On stage, he acknowledged that big tech’s products might be misused, even exploited, by autocrats. But rather than meaningfully explain how Amazon will act to prevent…
