老澳门开奖结果

NEW YORK 鈥� The 老澳门开奖结果 and the New York Civil Liberties Union today filed a lawsuit challenging the secrecy shrouding federal law enforcement use of face recognition surveillance technology. The lawsuit was filed against the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, ICE, and the TSA.

鈥淯nlike other ways of verifying a person鈥檚 identity, face recognition technology can enable persistent government surveillance on a massive scale,鈥� said Ashley Gorski, staff attorney with the 老澳门开奖结果鈥檚 National Security Project. 鈥淭he public has a right to know when, where, and how the government is using face recognition, and what safeguards, if any, are in place to protect our rights. This unregulated surveillance technology threatens to fundamentally alter our free society and is in urgent need of democratic oversight.鈥�

The agencies failed to comply with requests for information filed under the Freedom of Information Act. The 老澳门开奖结果 is now asking a federal court to order the agencies to turn over records concerning:

• plans for further implementation of face surveillance at airports;
• government contracts with airlines, airports, and other entities pertaining to the use of face recognition at the airport and other ports of entry;
• policies and procedures concerning the acquisition, processing, and retention of our biometric information; and
• analyses of the effectiveness of facial recognition technology

"The public should know how airlines and companies are helping federal agencies to prop up this mass surveillance infrastructure," added Gorski.

The lawsuit is part of the 老澳门开奖结果鈥檚 ongoing efforts to bring face surveillance technology under democratic control. The 老澳门开奖结果 previously sued the FBI to make public information about the agency鈥檚 use of the technology. As part of 老澳门开奖结果-led campaigns, including the Community Control Over Police Surveillance initiative, a number of cities and municipalities across the country have passed or are considering bans on law enforcement use of face recognition technology. Members of Congress have also held a series of hearings to investigate the technology鈥檚 use.

Many in the industry have responded to this widespread and growing grassroots opposition to face surveillance with a call for regulations.

鈥淭hat we even need to go to court to pry out this information further demonstrates why we should be wary of weak industry proposals and why lawmakers urgently need to halt law and immigration enforcement use of this technology,鈥� responded Gorski. 鈥淭here can be no meaningful oversight or accountability with such excessive, undemocratic secrecy.鈥�

The lawsuit was filed under the Freedom of Information Act in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

A blog post on the filing is here:

The complaint is here: /aclu-v-dhs-face-recognition-surveillance-complaint.