A coalition of consumer- and digital-rights groups from 55 countries in an open letter criticized a draft bill regulating the use of artificial intelligence technologies in the European Union. Politico reports.
The signatories say that the use of facial recognition technologies in public spaces violates human rights and civil liberties.
Human rights advocates noted that the Commission’s proposals merely nominally ban governments from using biometric identification systems. The exemptions written into the draft are vague and could open the door to surveillance of all sorts based on baseless threats, they warned.
The rules contain nothing about corporations using the technology in public spaces. Activists stressed that other countries may follow the EU’s example and adopt laws with similar legal gaps.
The coalition also aims to pressure investors and tech giants to stop financing and developing biometric identification systems for surveillance. After last year’s protests in the United States, companies such as Microsoft, Amazon and IBM imposed moratoria on selling facial-recognition technologies to law enforcement.
Anusha Jain of the Internet Freedom Foundation says this is not enough. She says these moratoria often do not extend to countries outside the West.
“It is extremely important that these multinational companies come forward and state that we are developing global standards that are fair for the whole world, not just for the United States or the European Union,” Jain continued.
In April 2021, the European Commission presented a framework proposal for the use of artificial intelligence in the European Union.
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