Members of Congress Urge DHS To Cease the Use of Facial Recognition Technology

Today Senators Ed Markey and Jeff Merkley along with Representatives Pramila Jayapal and Ayanna Pressley sent a letter to the Secretary of Homeland Security urging him “to immediately stop the Department’s use of facial recognition technology, including Clearview AI’s tools.” The Congressional members argued that “facial recognition technology like Clearview’s poses unique threats to marginalized communities in ways that extend beyond the tools’ inaccuracy issues” and that the technology threatens “Americans’ expectation that they can move, assemble, or simply appear in public without being identified.” Senators Markey and Merkley and Reps. Jayapal and Pressley previously introduced the Facial Recognition and Biometric Technology Moratorium Act, which would prohibit the use of facial recognition and other biometric technologies by federal agencies. The bill is supported by EPIC and many other public interest organizations. EPIC is currently suing ICE to obtain documents about their use of Clearview AI and other facial recognition services.