Amazon Facial AI Matched Politicians With Criminals in ACLU Test

Amazon.com Inc.’s facial recognition software falsely matched 28 members of Congress to criminal mug shots of different people, according to a test conducted by the American Civil Liberties Union, which argues the technology’s use by law enforcement may violate civil rights.

The ACLU cited the results of an experiment in which it used Amazon’s Rekognition tool to compare pictures of all members of the House and Senate against a database of 25,000 arrest photos. The subsequent false matches disproportionately affected members of the Congressional Black Caucus, it said, reinforcing concerns that the technology is less effective on people with darker ...