Police body-camera maker Axon Enterprise announced Thursday it will not incorporate facial-recognition technology in its law enforcement devices, a move that comes as California’s legislature considers a statewide ban on such use, The Seattle Times reports. In a blog post by CEO Rick Smith, the Scottsdale, AZ, company, whose body-camera unit is based in Seattle, cited “serious ethical concerns” about the current capabilities of facial-matching software.
Thursday’s announcement by Axon, formerly called Taser International, followed a recommendation by an ethics board on artificial intelligence (AI) and policing technology that the company launched last spring. In a 42-page report, the board concluded that facial-recognition technology is not reliable enough to be used on body-worn cameras, given that it doesn’t equally identify people across all genders, ethnicities and races. “We just know that we had an ethical responsibility to do the right thing,” said Mike Wagers, the company’s vice president.