In a report released January 20, 2021 the European Parliament outlines the need for new legal frameworks for artificial intelligence and biometric surveillance. The report raises concerns about both civilian and military uses of artificial intelligence, mass surveillance, and deepfakes. The European Parliament was particularly concerned with facial recognition technology, proposing a moratorium on its use in public and semi-public spaces. EPIC leads a campaign to Ban Face Surveillance through the Public Voice coalition.
EPIC, as part of the open government case EPIC v. AI Commission, has obtained additional records from the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence. The documents include emails from Commission chair and former Google CEO Eric Schmidt illustrating Schmidt’s close relationship with members of Congress. The records also reveal that the ethics disclosure form Schmidt filed with the Commission—a document that usually tops out at a dozen pages—was 38 pages long. EPIC’s FOIA request was recently highlighted in an American Prospect article on Schmidt’s role in Rebellion Defense, “a shadowy defense startup” that markets AI systems to the Defense Department. EPIC has twice prevailed in its open government case against the AI Commission, forcing the Commission to hold public meetings and disclose thousands of pages of records. In recent comments, EPIC called on the AI Commission to "advise Congress, as the nation's highest policymaking authority, to establish government-wide principles and safeguards for the use and development of AI." The case is EPIC v. AI Commission, No. 19-2906 (D.D.C.).
EPIC Equal Justice Works Fellow Ben Winters testified today before the Washington Legislature in support of a bill to establish transparency and accountability around state automated decision-making and ban certain dangerous applications of AI. Under SB5116, public and regularly updated algorithmic accountability reports of state uses of automated decision-making systems will be completed, AI-enabled profiling that produces significant legal effects will be prohibited, and other baseline protections will be enacted. EPIC has advocated for algorithmic transparency for several years, has called to ban face surveillance, and tracks use of AI in the Criminal Justice System.
