Amazon to indefinitely extend ban on police use of facial recognition tech

Amazon said on Tuesday that it is extending its ban on the use of its face-recognition technology by police, amid persistent concerns of bias.

The tech giant had announced in June last year that it was implementing a one-year moratorium on police use of its technology, saying the pause could give Congress time to enact safeguards against misuse of facial recognition.

The company has now confirmed an extension of that ban “until further notice” without elaborating.

Amazon and other technology companies have been under pressure from civil rights activists and their own workers to halt the sale of face-recognition systems to law enforcement agencies.