News & events
Drawing the line on biometric surveillance
Terms like “biometrics” and “facial recognition” sound technical and abstract — but the impact of these tools is personal. The feeling of being watched, looked up and down, examined and picked apart, and followed from place to place is deeply unsettling. And the portrait of our lives this kind of data creates — especially when collected in mass and combined with other parts of our digital footprint — is intimate and dangerous.
Access Now | Action Alert
BAN BIOMETRIC SURVEILLANCE
The bottom line is that some technology is just too easily abused, and no amount of regulation or design evolution can stop it from undermining our rights. We believe that is the case for surveillance tools that allow for mass remote collection and processing of biometric data, and for discriminatory targeted surveillance.
That’s why we’re building a global coalition to ban biometric surveillance for good. Join us to #BanBS.
These technologies’ flaws amplify discrimination that people of color, LGBTQ+ folks, and others already experience in everyday life. And improving their accuracy only makes them better at surveilling us.
· We’re talking about facial recognition — like the cameras authorities are using to track down protesters in Russia, or the system that wrongly flags Black students for cheating on an exam because it can’t find their faces.
· We’re talking about systems claiming to be able to determine your gender or sexual orientation based on sexist, racist, and homophobic stereotypes.
· We’re talking about systems that analyze your tone of voice, body language, and other intimate details to try to guess how you’re feeling — and then use that information to decide things like what ad to show you or whether you might be lying.
This week, Access Now and 170+ civil society organizations, activists, and experts are releasing an open letter calling on decision makers everywhere to #BanBS. The letter is designed to support people who are fighting in their local communities to get these bans put in place. It is available in 10 languages (and counting), and we’re working with partners around the globe to stop biometric surveillance in its tracks.
Here are a few ways you can support this fight right now:
· Share the letter. Spreading the word about why biometric surveillance is so dangerous and starting a conversation in your community is an important first step. Share the #BanBS letter on your favorite social media platforms.
· Ready to go a step further? Send the letter directly to your local, regional, and national government representatives and to an editor of your local newspaper.
· Sign the petition we’re running with our partner All Out, calling for a ban on automated recognition of gender and sexual orientation (which is just always a bad idea).
· And if you’re in the EU, reclaim your face by supporting this European Citizens’ Initiative calling on EU regulators to ban biometric surveillance.
A wave of local organizing has already won bans in cities around the world. Even companies like Amazon and Microsoft have already recognized the danger of this technology and agreed to stop sales to law enforcement — for now.
It’s time to turn up the heat and make sure we put biometric surveillance behind us for good. Let’s #BanBS!
Carolyn, Leanna, Daniel, and the Access Now team