Axon body camera supplier will not use facial recognition in its products — for now

San Francisco supervisors approved a ban on police using facial recognition technology, making it the first city in the U.S. with such a restriction. LOS ANGELES -- A major supplier of body cameras to law enforcement agencies across the country has decided to forgo selling facial recognition technology with its products. Axon, which supplies 48 police departments in major cities with body cameras, made the decision after the company's ethics board concluded the technology was not accurate enough to be implemented in the field and could potentially cause major trust issues between law enforcement and their communities. In a 42-page report, the ethics board detailed concerns with the inaccuracy of the software, saying results showed it was less accurate when identifying women, younger people, and "worsens when trying to identify people of color compared to white people, a troubling disparity that would only perpetuate or exacerbate the racial inequities that cut across the criminal justice system." Is Facebook listening to me?