S.T.O.P. Condemns NYPD For 22K Facial Recognition Searches

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For Immediate Release

S.T.O.P. Condemns NYPD For 22K Facial Recognition Searches

(NEW YORK, NY, 10/23/2020) – Today, the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (S.T.O.P.), a New York-based privacy group, condemns the NYPD for conducting 22,069 facial recognition searches over three years. The NYPD conducted these searches from October 8, 2016, through October 8, 2019.  The NYPD made the disclosure as part of S.T.O.P.’s Freedom of Information Law litigation against the department, where the civil rights group is demanding documents detailing the scale of New York’s facial recognition program.

SEE: NYPD Affirmation In Support Of Cross Motion To Dismiss (at paragraph 45)
https://www.stopspying.org/s/2020-10-05-NYPD-Cross-Motion.pdf
 
S.T.O.P. vs. NYPD Lawsuit Overview
https://www.stopspying.org/nypd-facial-rec
 
Daily Dot – NYPD sued for refusing to disclose records about facial recognition use
https://www.dailydot.com/debug/nypd-facial-recognition-lawsuit-stop/

“The NYPD is running rampant with facial recognition,” said Surveillance Technology Oversight Project Executive Director Albert Fox Cahn. “These numbers prove what many of us have long feared, that the NYPD is using facial recognition more often and for less serious crimes. We’re sold this technology with the promise that it will be used for violent crimes, but then it’s inevitably used to simply police crimes of poverty. And even as we witness a growing national consensus that facial recognition is biased, broken, and incompatible with a democratic society, the NYPD continues to accelerate their program. The response is clear: we must ban facial recognition.”
 
The Surveillance Technology Oversight Project is a non-profit advocacy organization and legal services provider hosted by the Urban Justice Center. S.T.O.P. litigates and advocates for privacy, fighting excessive local and state-level surveillance. Our work highlights the discriminatory impact of surveillance on Muslim Americans, immigrants, and communities of color.
 
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CONTACT: S.T.O.P. Executive Director Albert Fox Cahn
 
Copyright © 2019 Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, All rights reserved.

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