Open letter in support of a ban on the use of digital facial recognition technologies in public security

Launched on March 8, 2022, by the Rights in Network Coalition, at the Internet Forum in Brazil, the “Take My Face Out of Your Target” campaign seeks to ban facial recognition technologies in public security activities. Plataforma CIPÓ endorses the letter, along with more than 30 organizations and individuals from civil society, including data_labe, CodingRights, Article 19, and the researcher Nina da Hora.

The letter, which can be accessed in full at the campaign’s website advocates for the following overall objetives:

1. Prohibition on the use of facial recognition technologies, including trough the adoption of rules for their prohibition in all spheres of Brazil’s Federation.
   
2. Discontinuation of any projects that use, even in a secondary way, facial recognition for public security purposes. In cases where the technology has already been used, government authorities must formulate public policies and action plans so that people who have had their human rights violated by these mechanisms can seek adequate compensation.
   
3. Publication of impact reports on the use of these technologies, from the moment they were conceived to their respective ban, including data on investments, number and characteristics of approaches and arrests carried out, false positive and negative rates, documentation of implemented procedures, among other relevant information to measure the impact of their use. The National Data Protection Authority (ANPD), in compliance with its legally established institutional attributions, must require the commission and release of these reports whenever necessary.
   
4. Refusal of the private sector to encourage the implementation of this type of project by the government. Financial agencies and banks should not provide resources to the public administration for the development and implementation of this type of technology. Companies and startups that develop facial recognition mechanisms should not allow their technology to be used in public security activities.
   
5. Mobilization of institutions that seek to defend constitutional rights – such as the Public Defender’s Office, the Public Ministry and the National Data Protection Authority – in favor of banning the use of facial recognition in public security, which can range from administrative measures to taking legal action against governments.