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| Amid rising concerns over facial recognition technology used by law enforcement, a black man in Detroit alleges he was wrongfully arrested on the basis of a flawed algorithm (AFP Photo/SAUL LOEB) |
Washington (AFP) - A flawed facial recognition algorithm led to the wrongful arrest of an African-American man in Detroit, according to a complaint filed Wednesday in a case highlighting concerns over the technology which critics say reinforces racial bias.
The
American Civil Liberties Union, representing Robert Williams, said Wednesday it
was the first known case of an unlawful arrest based on face recognition
technology, which according to critics is often inaccurate in distinguishing
faces of black people.
"Though
Robert Williams may be the first known case, he is likely not the first person
who was wrongfully arrested and interrogated based off a bogus face recognition
hit," the ACLU said on Twitter.
"There
are likely many people who just don't know that it was flawed technology that
made them a target."
Williams
wrote in the Washington Post that he was arrested in January outside his home
and held for 30 hours, later learning he was wrongly identified based on
surveillance footage from a robbery at a watch store.
"I
never thought I'd have to explain to my daughters why daddy got arrested,"
Williams wrote. "How does one explain to two little girls that a computer
got it wrong, but the police listened to it anyway?"
The news
comes amid rising tensions over police misconduct following the deaths of
several African Americans at the hands of law enforcement, and concerns that
some technologies such as facial recognition may exacerbate discrimination.
Various
studies show facial recognition systems used in the United States may be wildly
inaccurate in attempting to identify blacks.
Joy
Buolamwini, founder of the Algorithmic Justice League, an activist group, said
the Williams case highlights how artificial intelligence technology can be
abused to reinforce discrimination.
"This
example cannot be reduced to a case of one bad algorithm," she said.
"Instead what we are seeing is just a glimpse of how systemic racism can
be encoded and reflected in AI systems."
Amid the
recent unrest, some firms including IBM, Amazon and Microsoft said they would
not be selling facial recognition technology to police departments until
regulations are passed to ensure against misuse. But many other systems are
widely used.
Seeking
apology
In a formal
complaint to the police department, ACLU attorney Phil Mayor asked for a
dismissal of the charges, an expungement of the arrest record, and a public
apology to Williams.
The lawyer
said Williams has not waived his right to pursue further action in court.
The ACLU
also said the police should stop using facial recognition technology as an
investigatory tool, and that any photos of Williams should be removed from the
agency's database.
Williams
wrote of the harrowing experience of being handcuffed in front of his family
and spending the night "on the floor of a filthy, overcrowded cell."
"As
any other person would be, I was angry that this was happening to me," he
said. "As any other black man would be, I had to consider what could
happen if I asked too many questions or displayed my anger openly -- even
though I knew I had done nothing wrong."
In a
related move Wednesday, Boston's city council voted to ban the use of face
recognition technology by law enforcement.
"This
is a crucial victory for our privacy rights and for people like Robert
Williams, who have been arrested for crimes they didn't commit because of a
technology law enforcement shouldn't be using," said Carol Rose, executive
director of the ACLU of Massachusetts.
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