S.T.O.P. Welcomes Senators’ Call For ICE To Stop Facial Recognition

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View this email in your browser For Immediate Release S.T.O.P. Welcomes Senators’ Call For ICE To Stop Facial Recognition (New York, NY, 9/13/2022) - Today, the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (S.T.O.P.), a New York-based privacy and civil rights group, welcomes a letter from Democratic senators Ed Markey and Ron Wyden calling on Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to end its use of facial recognition. The letter noted that ICE has used facial recognition on the driver’s licenses of almost one-third of U.S. adults, according to a report from the Georgetown Law Center on Privacy & Technology. The civil rights group condemned creation of a vast surveillance dragnet targeting immigrant communities. SEE: The Hill - Democratic senators call on ICE to stop use of ‘Orwellian’ facial recognition, surveillance https://thehill.com/policy/technology/3640527-democratic-senators-call-on-ice-to-stop-use-of-orwellian-facial-recognition-surveillance/ Georgetown Law Center on Privacy & Technology – American Dragnet: Data-Driven Deportation In The 21st Century https://www.americandragnet.org/ “It’s indefensible for ICE to track the public with this technology,” said Surveillance Technology Oversight Project Executive Director Albert Fox Cahn. “The Biden Administration must act to end this digital dragnet. This sort of biased, invasive surveillance is incompatible with democracy and the Democratic Party’s platform. President Biden must act and order ICE to end this unconstitutional surveillance.” The letter also noted that ICE was able to automatically learn the addresses of almost three-fourths of Americans connecting to utilities in a new home. In March 2o21, S.T.O.P. and a coalition of law firms filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of a group of California civil rights activists against Thomson Reuters for selling millions of Californians’ utility records to ICE. In August 2021, the coalition defeated Thomson Reuters’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit. SEE: Press Release - California Civil Rights Activists Accuse Thomson Reuters of Selling Data Without Consent https://www.stopspying.org/latest-news/2021/3/18/california-civil-rights-activists-accuse-thomson-reuters-of-selling-data-without-consent Press Release - California Civil Rights Activists Defeat Thomson Reuters Motion To Dismiss Lawsuit Re Data Sales https://www.stopspying.org/latest-news/2021/8/17/california-civil-rights-activists-defeat-thomson-reuters-motion-to-dismiss-lawsuit-re-data-sales 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. -- END -- CONTACT: S.T.O.P. Executive Director Albert Fox Cahn Copyright © 2021 Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, All rights reserved. Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.