An anonymous reader quotes a report from MIT Technology Review: In just the last week, Google Docs has emerged as a way to share everything from lists of books on racism to templates for letters to family members and representatives to lists of funds and resources that are accepting donations. Shared Google Docs that anyone can view and anyone can edit,…
Tag: George Floyd
Mobilewalla Used Cellphone Data To Estimate the Demographics of Protesters
An anonymous reader quotes a report from BuzzFeed News: On the weekend of May 29, thousands of people marched, sang, grieved, and chanted, demanding an end to police brutality and the defunding of police departments in the aftermath of the police killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. They marched en masse in cities like Minneapolis, New York, Los Angeles, and…
Facial Recognition Bill Would Ban Use By Federal Law Enforcement
An anonymous reader quotes a report from NBC News: Sens. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., introduced legislation Thursday that seeks to ban the use of facial recognition and other biometric surveillance technology by federal law enforcement agencies. The legislation would also make federal funding for state and local law enforcement contingent on the enactment of similar bans. The Facial…
Why The $100 Million Police Body Camera Experiment ‘Isn’t Working’
Slashdot reader tedlistens writes: Without cellphone video, George Floyd’s death might have been what the Minneapolis police initially described in a statement as simply a “medical incident during a police interaction.” Fortunately, the officers were also filming the entire encounter on their body cameras, the result of a previous round of reforms aimed at reducing force and enhancing transparency. And yet,…
Many Police Departments Have Software That Can Identify People In Crowds
An anonymous reader quotes a report from BuzzFeed News: As protesters demand an end to police brutality and the coronavirus pandemic sweeps the nation, police departments around the country are using software that can track and identify people in crowds from surveillance footage — often with little to no public oversight or knowledge. Dozens of cities around the country are using…
Amazon Pauses Police Use of Facial Recognition Tech For a Year
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Reuters: Amazon on Wednesday said it was implementing a one-year moratorium on police use of its facial recognition software, reversing its long-time support of selling the technology to law enforcement. Civil liberties activists have voiced concern that facial recognition could lead to unjust arrests during demonstrations against police brutality, racial injustice and the death…
IBM Gets Out of Facial Recognition Business, Calls On Congress To Advanced Policies Tackling Racial Injustice
IBM CEO Arvind Krishna called on Congress Monday to enact reforms to advance racial justice and combat systemic racism while announcing the company was getting out of the facial recognition business. CNBC reports: “IBM firmly opposes and will not condone uses of any technology, including facial recognition technology offered by other vendors, for mass surveillance, racial profiling, violations of basic human…
Senator Fears Clearview AI Facial Recognition Could Be Used On Protesters
Sen. Edward Markey has raised concerns that police and law enforcement agencies have access to controversial facial recognition app Clearview AI in cities where people are protesting the killing of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died two weeks ago while in the custody of Minneapolis police. CNET reports: Markey, a Democratic senator from Massachusetts and a member of the…
GTA Online, Red Dead Online Will Temporarily Go Offline In Honor of George Floyd
Rockstar Games, 2K games, and their parent company Take-Two Interactive announced on Thursday that they will shut down the servers for games such as Grand Theft Auto Online, Red Dead Online, and NBA 2K for two hours on Thursday afternoon “to honor the legacy of George Floyd.” Polygon reports: “Black Lives Matter,” said Rockstar Games on its official Twitter account. “To…
How to actually stop police brutality, according to science
Though the issues brought up by this week’s George Floyd protests run deep, there is evidence that certain policy changes can lead to less violent police departments. Source: https://www.livescience.com/evidence-police-brutality-reform.html