Hello my fellow Koi Fanatics,
Are you ready for another wacky story. In this time of chaos and big news stories some shocking and deeply important stories seem to slip through the cracks. I was just hoping to bring light to something I found deeply interesting and informative and add it to the “pond” of knowledge on this here blog. I know this has nothing to do with koi but I am more than just a koi lover, I am a fanatic for the news! And I would like to say this news story is pretty thought provoking. So…buckle up guys!
In the last week of impeachment talk and bush fires and other catastrophes, legislators across the country have been pushing hard to regulate facial recognition use within law enforcement. This topic is a big can of worms to me. I feel that facial recognition could become a very helpful tool for keeping order but I feel like it might be a step too far. In my opinion it would take most privacy out of day to day life. I would personally feel like I was being watched when I went shopping for bananas or koi food. To the legislators that are pushing for this regulation the use of facial recognition could impede on the 1st amendment rights of all Americans. They fear that the technology will be used to catalog those that have attended rallies and protest just for showing their face in public. I personally agree that use of this technology does not seem correct. I don’t want to feel like I have to tailor my actions because I’m being watched. This just seems very utopian, I feel that this would take too much power and liberty away from the public. The fears of the lawmakers seem logical. They are scared that the use of this technology will be abused to further oppress and discriminate against minority groups. According to a study done by the Department of Commerce’s National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) “…some facial recognition systems are anywhere from 10 to 100 times more likely to misidentify groups like the young, elderly, women of color, and people of asian or african descent.” This is extremely dangerous and unreliable, and may well “…exacerbate existing prejudices and over policing of…communities of color.” I feel that if this system will continue and perpetuate this prejudice it should not be used. Seems wrong to continue this unfair pattern. I think that everything should be equal and no person or thing should be belittled for what they can not change.
Something I think should be brought to light is Amazon’s role in all of this. They are the main provider of this technology to the government. The extent to which facial recognition is sold to governments is unknown, however it is known that Amazon has marketed Rekognition to ICE official in the past. Taking into consideration how harsh immigration enforcement has become I think that this marketing is wrong.
Anyways thanks for reading pond lovers. Just keep swimming!
Until next time my friends,
Koi Lover
Read more here: https://venturebeat.com/2020/01/19/from-washington-state-to-washington-dc-lawmakers-rush-to-regulate-facial-recognition/
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