Recently, Amazon was
under fire for permitting police the use of its facial recognition tech. This
was, of course, after the company made a statement condemning police brutality
and extending support to the black community. People termed it hypocritical as
they were propagating one thing to maintain face value, but their actions were
entirely contrary.

Microsoft is following
suit – President Brad Smith revealed during his conversation with the
Washington Post, which was live-streamed on Thursday, that the company will no
longer sell its facial recognition tech to law enforcement. 

But the announcement
came with a big “but” because Microsoft also made it clear that if the Congress
passes a rule that compels them to sell the tech, it will not fight it. Hence,
if the technology can play a part in protecting human lives, it will not
hesitate one bit.

“We
will not sell facial-recognition technology to police departments in the United
States until we have a national law in place, grounded in human rights that
will govern this technology.” – Smith said.

Amazon has announced
that it will hold off selling its Rekognition software to the police department
for a year – that will give time to Congress to come up with a solution.
According to them, a year should be enough to think and pass legislation
governing rule of its tech.

Source: YouTube

IBM, on the other hand,
has taken a strong stand. It has decided to step out from the facial
recognition industry altogether. They’ve acknowledged and aborted the racial
discrimination and the inherent bias built in these devices.

Hence, if you take the
statements given by IBM and Amazon and compare it with the one given by Microsoft,
you’d see that it lies somewhere in the middle.

The recent protests
that have emerged as a direct result of police brutality have caused these
companies to take stern actions. America is shaken to its core and has made
each individual reevaluate their personal attitude and behavior and the
prejudice that lies within.