Civil Liberties group sues US government for records of facial-recognition use at airports claiming the technology ‘enables surveillance on a massive scale’
A civil liberties watchdog sued the US government Thursday seeking the disclosure of records on the use of facial recognition technology being deployed at American airports.
The American Civil Liberties Union said it was seeking to force the Department of Homeland Security to release records on its contracts and policies for the technology which has been expanded in recent months.
ACLU staff attorney Ashley Gorski said the lawsuit aims to require disclosure of what the government is doing with the data it collects with face-scanning machines.
The expanded airport deployment is ‘putting us on an extraordinarily dangerous path toward the normalization of face surveillance,’ Gorski said in a statement.
Attorneys suggested the technology raises ‘profound civil-liberties concerns’ and ‘can enable undetectable, persistent government surveillance on a massive scale.’
‘But because key facts about this surveillance are still secret, the public lacks the information it needs to hold these agencies to account. We’re suing to bring some much-needed transparency.’
The ACLU said DHS and other federal agencies have declined to respond to freedom of information requests on contracts with airlines, airports and other entities, and on retention policies regarding biometric information collected. AFP
