For Immediate Release
S.T.O.P. Condemns False Arrest, Nearly 6-Month Imprisonment of Innocent TN Grandmother After Facial Recognition Mismatch
(New York, NY, 3/16/25) - Today, the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (S.T.O.P.), a privacy and civil rights group, condemns the false arrest of Tennessee grandmother Angela Lipps by Fargo, ND police after a wrongful facial recognition match. Lipps had never been to North Dakota or on an airplane until her false arrest, but spent close to six months in jail after Fargo police’s facial recognition system wrongfully flagged her as a suspect in a bank fraud case. The civil rights group strongly condemned the false arrest and renewed its call for a ban on facial recognition in New York City and State.
SEE: Futurism - AI Mistake Throws Innocent Grandmother in Jail for Nearly Six Months
https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/ai-grandmother-jail-mistake
The Guardian - Tennessee grandmother jailed after AI facial recognition error links her to fraud
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/mar/12/tennessee-grandmother-ai-fraud
“Facial recognition upends lives and separates innocent individuals from their families,” said Surveillance Technology Oversight Project Executive Director Michelle Dahl. “Angela Lipps lost nearly six months of time at home with her grandchildren because of a faulty algorithm. While we know about this case today, we have no idea how many people falsely flagged by this software are still in jail. This technology is far too dangerous to deploy against the public, especially as our civil rights are increasingly under attack. In New York, it is far past time for the City Council and state legislature to ban the scan.”
SEE: Press Release - Council Members, Advocates Rally Against Facial Recognition Before City Council Considers Bans
https://www.stopspying.org/latest-news/2026/3/2/council-member-advocates-rally-against-facial-recognition-before-city-council-considers-bans
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In August, S.T.O.P. condemned the false arrest of Trevis Williams by the NYPD after a wrongful facial recognition match. Williams was driving from Connecticut to Brooklyn at the time another man was photographed flashing a woman in Manhattan’s Union Square. Williams was arrested despite being 8 inches taller and 70 pounds heavier than the suspect, spending multiple nights in jail.
SEE: Press Release - NYPD False Facial Recognition Arrest Of Innocent Black Man
https://www.stopspying.org/latest-news/2025/8/27/stop-condemns-nypd-false-facial-recognition-arrest-of-innocent-black-man?rq=trevis
S.T.O.P. is a lead advocate in the “Ban The Scan” legislative campaign to end facial recognition by police and government agencies, landlords, public accommodations, and schools in New York City and State. In 2021, the civil rights group released Scan City: A Decade of NYPD Facial Recognition Abuse, a research report detailing the extent of NYPD’s facial recognition use and the serious consequences it poses for the civil, constitutional, and privacy rights of New Yorkers.
SEE: Ban The Scan
https://www.banthescan.org/
Research Report - Scan City: A Decade of NYPD Facial Recognition Abuse
https://www.stopspying.org/scan-city
The Surveillance Technology Oversight Project is a non-profit advocacy organization and legal services provider. S.T.O.P. litigates and advocates for privacy, fighting excessive local and state-level surveillance. Our work highlights the discriminatory impact of surveillance on Muslim Americans, immigrants, and communities of color.
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