After surveying 42 federal agencies that employ law enforcement officers about their use of facial recognition tech, here’s what the Government Accountability Office found.
Between January 2015 and March 2020, at least 20 agencies owned their own facial recognition systems or used systems owned by others. Those “others” included controversial software like Clearview AI.
Of the 15 agencies that used non-federal FRT software, only one agency (ICE) was aware of which systems were used by employees. The other agencies didn’t track that information, according to the report, meaning they had no list of approved FRT software—and virtually no accountability framework.
Case study: Six federal agencies used FRT during last summer’s Black Lives Matter protests, in attempts to identify people in images of “civil unrest, riots, or protests.”
- For example, the US Postal Inspection Service used Clearview AI’s software in investigations related to damaging USPS property, stealing mail, and more.
Three federal agencies also used facial recognition software to identify people at the US Capitol attack on Jan. 6.
Solutions, solutions: Since most agencies using FRT had no accountability standards, the GAO made its own recommendations in a separate report, including introducing a tracking mechanism to identify which systems are being used and assess the risks.
Zoom out: Proposed legislation, including the recently revived Facial Recognition and Biometric Technology Moratorium Act, would ban federal agencies from using FRT and other biometric technology entirely.—HF
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