--- title: "Report: Amazon Tried to Sell Facial Recognition Tech to ICE" description: "Retail giant Amazon tried to sell facial recognition technology to US. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) this summer. Amazon employees aren't happy." date: "2018-10-23" modified: "2018-10-23" authors: - name: "Jon Christian" job_title: "Executive Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jonc" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/amazon-facial-recognition-ice" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" - "Facial recognition" - "Future Society" tags: - "Amazon" - "immigration and customs enforcement" - "rekognition" - "the digest" --- # Report: Amazon Tried to Sell Facial Recognition Tech to ICE ![Default Futurism featured image]() ## Face Hole Retail giant Amazon tried to sell its facial recognition technology to US. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) this summer, according to [documents]() obtained by the Project on Government Oversight and [first reported]() by the *Daily Beast*. ICE has attracted controversy during the Trump administration for [what critics]() and [insiders say]() is overzealous enforcement of immigration laws, which includes rounding up undocumented immigrants [at hospitals]() and [church shelters](). On Tuesday, the *Daily Beast* reported that ICE has discussed deploying Rekognition, Amazon's facial recognition tech, which can scan a person's face against a database of millions in just moments. ## ICE ICE Baby Amazon workers and former ICE insiders are reportedly concerned that Amazon's facial recognition tech would give the agency too much power. "If they have this technology, I can see it being used in any way they think will help them increase the numbers of detentions, apprehensions, and removals," former deputy director of ICE Alonzo Peña told the *Daily Beast*. Peña also said that abuse of the tech “should be an area of concern, given this new technology — there’s potential for its use to be very widespread." ## Things to Come The idea of ICE**'**s widespread deployment of facial recognition tech brings to mind China, where the government is [using an extensive system of cameras]() and facial recognition tech to apprehend drug smugglers and other suspected criminals. Some local police departments in the U.S. [already use Rekognition](), but whether we'll ever see the U.S. government adopt facial recognition tech as readily as China's has remains to be seen. If it tries, though, it's likely be the tech industry providing the algorithms — so the public response to the revelation about Amazon and ICE could be a preview of how Americans will perceive that relationship. **READ MORE: [Amazon Pushes ICE to Buy Its Face Recognition Surveillance Tech]()** \[*Daily Beast*\] ***More on Amazon: [Employees, ACLU Demand Amazon Stop Facilitating Government Surveillance]()*** ## Author I'm responsible for editing, assigning, and scouting at Futurism, as well as occasionally writing for the site. That work involves keeping an eye on a wide range of narratives and issues, but over the past few years I've become increasingly interested in how AI is shaping the future of media, the web, and information itself. My day-to-day often involves collaborating on reporting and commentary projects bylined by my colleagues, but I try to find time to do my own reporting as well; stories I've broken for Futurism have been cited by publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, Wired, Ars Technica, New York Magazine, the Columbia Journalism Review, Bloomberg, and more. I grew up in Southern Vermont and attended Vanderbilt University. Prior to Futurism, I contributed to outlets including the Boston Globe, Vice, Wired, Slate, the Atlantic, the Outline, Ars Technica and more, and did stints in farming and food service. I currently live in Brooklyn, New York, and in my free time I enjoy pinball, word games, cycling, running, and music production. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()