- Seventeen Amazon (AMZN +0.5%) shareholders sent a letter asking the company to stop selling its facial recognition technology Rekognition to government entities.
- Key quote: “The undersigned Amazon shareholders are concerned such government surveillance infrastructure technology may not only pose a privacy threat to customers and other stakeholders across the country but may also raise substantial risks for our Company, negatively impacting our company’s stock valuation and increasing financial risk for shareholders.”
- The shareholder letter comes in tandem with a letter from civil liberties organizations including the ACLU.
- The ACLU has previously tried to pressure Amazon on this issue after a May New York Times article detailed the use of Rekognition by law enforcement.
- Previously: ACLU: Amazon facial rec tech used by police poses a "threat" (May 22)
- Previously: Congressmen want Amazon to answer questions about facial rec software (May 25)
- Now read: Amazon's New Secret To Accelerating Earnings Growth
Original article