
Congress demands Jeff Bezos explain Amazon’s face recognition software - johnshades
https://www.fastcompany.com/90209707/congress-demands-jeff-bezos-explain-amazons-face-recognition-software
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dredmorbius
The problems of information technogy and law enforcement are not a recent
discovery, though this is much overlooked.

Quoting:

 _By moving in this direction, we could easily end up with the most effective,
oppressive police state ever created._ The old cliche that "knowledge is
power" is especially valid in describing a society that holds extensive
information about the movements and history of all its citizens. I can think
of no organization or government that has proven itself to be sufficiently
benevolent to be entrusted with the power that is derived from the volume of
information available in such a system.

"Some Caveats on the Contribution of Technology to Law Enforcement", Paul
Baran. (1967)

[https://www.rand.org/pubs/papers/P3550.html](https://www.rand.org/pubs/papers/P3550.html)

Emphasis in original.

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siruncledrew
As if Bezos is going to roll up to a Congressional Hearing in a lab coat with
a white board and explain the principles of deep learning and neutral
networks. It's mostly just a dog and pony show.

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ericpauley
Why does congress always need the CEO? Surely there must be someone at amazon
more qualified to talk about Rekognition than Bezos.

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krapp
Congress grilling a CEO makes it appear to their constituents that they're
fighting on their behalf against a corrupt and otherwise unchecked corporate
establishment - CEOs are easy targets and celebrities in their own right; just
having "Jeff Bezos" in the headline draws readers, and attention to the
lawmakers themselves. Congress grilling some random engineer, meanwhile, would
make them look like abusive bureaucrats, if anyone cared, which no one would.

These hearings are rarely if ever about fact-finding as opposed to politics
and optics, and being seen "taking action" on "relevant" issues.

