Amazon.com Inc. drew the ire of the American Civil Liberties Union on Tuesday over a facial-recognition system offered to law-enforcement agencies that the advocacy group says can be used to violate civil rights.

In marketing materials obtained by the group, Amazon Web Services said its Rekognition system uses artificial intelligence to quickly identify people in photos and videos, enabling law enforcement to track individuals.

“Amazon’s Rekognition raises profound civil liberties and civil rights concerns,” the group said in a statement. “Today, the ACLU and a coalition of civil rights organizations demanded that Amazon stop allowing governments to use Rekognition.”

Source: Bloomberg Technology News

Date: May 22nd, 2018

Link: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-05-22/amazon-criticized-by-civil-rights-group-over-facial-recognition

Discussion

1) Does Amazon have a duty to protect individuals privacy for every piece of software it develops and sells?

2) What sorts of services could you sell using Amazon’s Rekognition system platform?