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Amazon Implements Moratorium on Police Use of Rekognition
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Amazon (AMZN - Free Report) is reportedly putting a complete halt on police utilization of its controversial facial recognition software — Rekognition— powered by its cloud computing platform Amazon Web Services (AWS) for ayear.
Rekognition, which is known for providing highly accurate facial analysis and facial search capabilities, has been subject to widespread criticism. Many are of the opinion that this software is biased and shows inaccurate results that might lead to discrimination on the basis of race.
The implementation ofone-year moratorium of police use of Rekognition comes following the death of George Floyd under the knee of a white police officer in the United States last month.
We believe this bodes well for the company’s strong stand against racial discrimination.
Facial Recognition & Criticisms Against Amazon
Facial recognition technology has its own set of pros and cons. The use of the technology is numerous, for instance, unlocking screens, identifying family members, receiving suggestions for tagging a person on a picture, and detecting, analyzing, and comparing faces for public safety use cases.
However, this technology does pose a threat to privacy and human rights. To start off, approval of the people in question is often not considered. Further, the government may be aware of an individual’s whereabouts without the knowledge and permission of the said individual. It can also be used by businesses to target customers.
Notably, Amazon workers recently criticized the company for continuing its selling of Rekognition to the police post the Floyd case.
Hence, the latest move can be deemed as the company’s response to such criticisms, which is likely to boost its brand’s reputation.
Last year, Amazon was reportedly asked by its shareholders to put a ban on the sale of this software to the police, law enforcement and federal agencies.
Consequently, the latest suspension of police use is likely to instill investor confidence in the stock.
Apart from Amazon, technology juggernauts including International Business Machines (IBM - Free Report) , Microsoft (MSFT - Free Report) , Facebook and Alphabet’s (GOOGL - Free Report) Google also have been bearing the brunt of criticism against their respective facial recognition software.
On the back of the latest decision, Amazon joins IBM and Google, which have also taken a strong stance against racial discrimination.
Recently, IBM reportedly announced that it will no longer sell or develop facial-recognition software in an effort to curb racial discrimination. Moreover, the company will oppose the use of such technology for mass surveillance and racial profiling. This decision came post the Floyd case.
Meanwhile, Google had refrained from selling its facial recognition APIs long-time back.
Meanwhile, Microsoft has recently divested its stake in startup, AnyVision, which provides facial recognition-based offerings. Further, it has stopped making minority investments in other companies that offer facial recognition technology due to privacy concerns.
Each was hand-picked by a Zacks expert as the #1 favorite stock to gain +100% or more in 2020. Each comes from a different sector and has unique qualities and catalysts that could fuel exceptional growth.
Most of the stocks in this report are flying under Wall Street radar, which provides a great opportunity to get in on the ground floor.
Image: Bigstock
Amazon Implements Moratorium on Police Use of Rekognition
Amazon (AMZN - Free Report) is reportedly putting a complete halt on police utilization of its controversial facial recognition software — Rekognition— powered by its cloud computing platform Amazon Web Services (AWS) for ayear.
Rekognition, which is known for providing highly accurate facial analysis and facial search capabilities, has been subject to widespread criticism. Many are of the opinion that this software is biased and shows inaccurate results that might lead to discrimination on the basis of race.
The implementation ofone-year moratorium of police use of Rekognition comes following the death of George Floyd under the knee of a white police officer in the United States last month.
We believe this bodes well for the company’s strong stand against racial discrimination.
Facial Recognition & Criticisms Against Amazon
Facial recognition technology has its own set of pros and cons. The use of the technology is numerous, for instance, unlocking screens, identifying family members, receiving suggestions for tagging a person on a picture, and detecting, analyzing, and comparing faces for public safety use cases.
However, this technology does pose a threat to privacy and human rights. To start off, approval of the people in question is often not considered. Further, the government may be aware of an individual’s whereabouts without the knowledge and permission of the said individual. It can also be used by businesses to target customers.
Notably, Amazon workers recently criticized the company for continuing its selling of Rekognition to the police post the Floyd case.
Hence, the latest move can be deemed as the company’s response to such criticisms, which is likely to boost its brand’s reputation.
Last year, Amazon was reportedly asked by its shareholders to put a ban on the sale of this software to the police, law enforcement and federal agencies.
Consequently, the latest suspension of police use is likely to instill investor confidence in the stock.
Amazon.com, Inc. Price and Consensus
Amazon.com, Inc. price-consensus-chart | Amazon.com, Inc. Quote
Facial Recognition Ban Gains Steam
Apart from Amazon, technology juggernauts including International Business Machines (IBM - Free Report) , Microsoft (MSFT - Free Report) , Facebook and Alphabet’s (GOOGL - Free Report) Google also have been bearing the brunt of criticism against their respective facial recognition software.
On the back of the latest decision, Amazon joins IBM and Google, which have also taken a strong stance against racial discrimination.
Recently, IBM reportedly announced that it will no longer sell or develop facial-recognition software in an effort to curb racial discrimination. Moreover, the company will oppose the use of such technology for mass surveillance and racial profiling. This decision came post the Floyd case.
Meanwhile, Google had refrained from selling its facial recognition APIs long-time back.
Meanwhile, Microsoft has recently divested its stake in startup, AnyVision, which provides facial recognition-based offerings. Further, it has stopped making minority investments in other companies that offer facial recognition technology due to privacy concerns.
Currently, Amazon carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
5 Stocks Set to Double
Each was hand-picked by a Zacks expert as the #1 favorite stock to gain +100% or more in 2020. Each comes from a different sector and has unique qualities and catalysts that could fuel exceptional growth.
Most of the stocks in this report are flying under Wall Street radar, which provides a great opportunity to get in on the ground floor.
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