Orlando, Fl., has ended a pilot program in which its police force used Amazon’s real-time facial recognition — a system called “Rekognition” that had triggered complaints from rights and privacy groups, NPR reports. Orlando’s deal to open part of its camera systems to Amazon was reported in May after the American Civil Liberties Union noticed that an Amazon Rekognition executive mentioned the city as a customer. On Monday, the ACLU of Florida wrote Mayor Buddy Dyer and the Orlando City Council, demanding that the city “immediately” shut down “any face surveillance deployment or use by city agencies and departments.”
On the same day, Orlando officials said the test of how its officers might use the Rekognition technology ended last week. The city added, “Staff continues to discuss and evaluate whether to recommend continuation of the pilot at a further date,” adding that “the contract with Amazon remains expired.” Orlando’s is believed to be the first police force in the US to try out a real-time facial recognition system; other agencies have used the software mainly to sift through crime scene images and compare the faces in them to mug shot photos. Orlando police say the test was limited to only a fraction of the city’s cameras, and that during the pilot, the department tested the system by tracking its own officers. The Rekognition deal with Orlando caused a stir. It prompted Amazon to issue a clarification about the level of engagement, after one of its executives described the program in a speech in South Korea. As criticism poured in over the idea that Orlando police could possibly use real-time facial analysis in public spaces without notice or debate, Amazon said, “It’s not correct that they’ve installed cameras all over the city…”