Opposition to Amazon’s sale of its facial recognition technology to US police forces is set to come to a head at its annual general meeting on Wednesday.
Shareholders will vote twice on the matter.
First, over whether the company should stop offering its Rekognition system to government agencies.
And second, over whether to commission an independent study into whether the tech threatens people’s civil rights.
The votes are non-binding, meaning executives do not have to take specific action whatever the outcome.
Amazon had tried to block the votes but was told by the Securities and Exchange Commission that it did not have the right to do so.
“We’re hopeful that we’ll get strong support from other investors and that will send a signal to the company that they shouldn’t move forward with sales to governments until or unless they are able to mitigate the risks,” Mary Beth Gallagher from the Tri-State Coalition for Responsible
Investment told the BBC.
“It could enable massive surveillance, even if the technology was 100% accurate, which, of course, it’s not.
“We don’t want it used by law enforcement because of the impact that will have on society – it might limit people’s willingness to go in public spaces where they think they might be tracked.”
Amazon has urged its shareholders to vote against the proposals saying it had not received a single report of the system being used in a harmful manner.
“[Rekognition is] a powerful tool… for law enforcement and government agencies to catch criminals, prevent crime, and find missing people,” its AGM notes state.
“New technology should not be banned or condemned because of its potential misuse.”
