The American Civil Liberties Union and the New York Civil Liberties Union has filed a lawsuit challenging use of face recognition surveillance technology by the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, ICE, and the TSA.”Unlike other ways of verifying a person's identity, face recognition technology can enable persistent government surveillance on a massive scale,” said Ashley Gorski, staff attorney with the ACLU's National Security Project. “The public has a right to know when, where, and how the government is using face recognition, and what safeguards, if any, are in place to protect our rights. This unregulated surveillance technology threatens to fundamentally alter our free society and is in urgent need of democratic oversight.”The ACLU is now asking a federal court to order the agencies to turn over records concerning:plans for further implementation of face surveillance at airports;government contracts with airlines, airports, and other entities pertaining to the use of face recognition at the airport and other ports of entry;policies and procedures concerning the acquisition, processing, and retention of our biometric information; andanalyses of the effectiveness of facial recognition technology “The public should know how airlines and companies are helping federal agencies to prop up this mass surveillance infrastructure,” added Gorski.
ACLU challenges DHS on face recognition
