Washington Post Calls for Federal Moratorium on Facial Recognition

June 3, 2021

The Washington Post Editorial Board called on Congress to impose a nationwide moratorium on facial recognition technology until it can pass legislation requiring technical and legal safeguards for the use of the technology. The Post cited the recent shutdown of a DC-area facial recognition system after an EPIC-led coalition organized against the system. In 2019, EPIC launched the Ban Face Surveillance campaign and through the Public Voice coalition gathered the support of over 100 organizations and many leading experts across 30 plus countries. An EPIC-led coalition urged the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board to recommend the suspension of face surveillance systems across the federal government. EPIC has joined with other organizations to oppose school administrators' use of facial recognition, urge President Biden to halt the federal use of facial recognition, and press Congress to stop the use and investment in facial recognition. Most recently, EPIC joined over 40 other organizations to detail the issues with cops using facial recognition and call for a law enforcement ban on the technology's use.

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