Boston

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2020: Banning facial recognition systems

On June 25, the authorities of the American city of Boston (Massachusetts) voted to impose a ban on the use of facial recognition systems. Thus, already in several cities of the mentioned state, including Springfield, Cambridge, Somerville, as well as in San Francisco (California) there is a similar ban.

Boston authorities are of the opinion that systems designed for facial recognition contribute to racial discrimination due to the imperfection of the technologies used. The question of the advisability of applying such decisions was raised in Boston on the same day when the media reported the erroneous arrest of an African American named Robert Williams by Detroit law enforcement officials.

The authorities of the American city of Boston (Massachusetts) voted to introduce a ban on the use of facial recognition systems

Williams was arrested after one of the facial recognition systems recorded a match of biometric data from Williams' photo with the data on the driver's license of the man who committed the store robbery. The attacker's face fell into the field of vision of the surveillance camera, later a fuzzy frame fell into the base of the facial recognition system, and the police, guided by erroneous data, brought trouble on an innocent citizen. The computer error was only acknowledged during Williams' interrogation.

Technologies designed for facial recognition have been repeatedly criticized due to biases against members of the black race. As a rule, artificial intelligence is trained mainly in pictures of faces of representatives of the Caucasian race. Due to a lack of data, the technology cannot perfectly identify citizens with a different skin color, Boston authorities said.^[1]

1984

Dinosaur delivery to the Museum of Science. Boston. UNITED STATES. 1984

1928

Boston firefighters while working in sub-zero temperatures, 1920s.

A mounted policeman flies down Tremont Street. Boston, 1920s.

1915

A steam locomotive moves along a flooded street during a flood in Boston, 1915.

1910

Downtown Boston. 1910.

1906

Harry Houdini prepares for Boston stunt

1906]]

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