Civil Society Urges Global Moratorium on Facial Recognition

Speaking at the annual meeting of the privacy commissioners, EPIC President Marc Rotenberg presented a declaration from civil society calling for a moratorium on the further deployment of facial recognition. The declaration, organized by the Public Voice coalition, has gathered the support of more than 60 organizations and many leading experts in 30 countries around the world. The declaration calls on countries to (1) suspend the further deployment of facial recognition for mass surveillance; (2) review all facial recognition systems to determine whether personal data was obtained lawfully; (3) undertake research to assess bias and risk; and (4) establish legal rules, technical standards, and ethical guidelines before further deployment occurs. Mr. Rotenberg explained that around the world there is growing opposition to the deployment of facial recognition and urged the international data protection commissioners to act.