In the News

In July 2018, the ACLU tested Amazon’s Rekognition software and found “the software incorrectly matched 28 members of Congress, identifying them as other people who have been arrested for a crime.” One of the members mismatched was Representative Jimmy Gomez, a member of the committee. He asked Del Greco about biases in the technology, and she said FBI personnel are not trained on the potential inaccuracies of facial recognition algorithms. Pressley applauded the city of Somerville, which is in her congressional district, because they passed an ordinance in May to ban the use of facial recognition technology until regulations for the technology are passed. “I don’t think many Somerville residents would support a law requiring every resident to wear a visible identification badge on their chest every time they leave the house, but that’s exactly what facial recognition technology is,” declared City Council member Ben Ewen-Campen. “What’s more, given what we know about the troubling racial biases in facial recognition systems, and their chilling effect on free speech and community activism, I think it’s clear that Somerville needs to lead on this important issue by banning the use of facial recognition by our local government.”

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