Amazon Halts Police's Use Of Facial Recognition Software: Reuters

Amazon.com Inc AMZN indefinitely extended the halt since June 2020 on the police use of its facial recognition software, Reuters reports.
The nationwide backlash against police brutality towards non-Whites intensified by the murder of African-American George Floyd by a white policeman led to the initial halt.
Civil liberties advocates, including Nathan Freed Wessler, a deputy project director at the American Civil Liberties Union, have warned against unwarranted arrests, loss of privacy, and freedom of expression from wrong face matches by law enforcement.
Customers still have access to Amazon’s face-matching service Rekognition for the detection of human trafficking victims.
Critics reported against Rekognition’s sex determination inability for darker skin tone individuals. However, Amazon refuted the allegations.
Microsoft Corp MSFT is waiting for regulatory approval to sell its face recognition software to the police.
Pharmacy chain Rite Aid Corp RAD reportedly aborted the software usage at its stores.
Price action: AMZN shares traded lower by 0.50% at $3,216.23 on the last check Wednesday.