Amazon's facial-recognition tool misidentified 28 lawmakers as people arrested for a crime, study finds

Amazon.com's facial recognition tools incorrectly identified Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) and 27 other members of Congress as people arrested for a crime during a test commissioned by the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California, the watchdog said Thursday. The ACLU said its findings show that Amazon's so-called Rekognition technology -- already in use at law-enforcement agencies in Oregon and Orlando -- is hampered by inaccuracies that disproportionately put people of color at risk and should prompt regulators to halt "law enforcement use of face surveillance." Amazon chief executive Jeffrey P. Bezos owns The Washington Post. For its test, the ACLU of Northern California created a database of 25,000 publicly available arrest photos, though the civil liberties watchdog did not give details about where it obtained the images or the kinds of individuals in the photos. It then used Amazon's Rekognition software to compare that database against photos of every member of the U.S. House and Senate.