What’s the news: “Israeli authorities are using an experimental facial recognition system known as ‘Red Wolf’ to track Palestinians and automate harsh restrictions on their freedom of movement,” said Amnesty International in a report published on May 2, 2023. The international human rights organisation demanded that the government cease the surveillance as part of the necessary steps to end apartheid in the region. The report ‘Automated Apartheid’ talks about the growing use of facial recognition by the Israeli government against Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem, especially in the wake of protests. “In both Hebron and occupied East Jerusalem, facial recognition technology supports a dense network of Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras to keep Palestinians under near-constant observation. Automated Apartheid shows how this surveillance is part of a deliberate attempt by Israeli authorities to create a hostile and coercive environment for Palestinians, with the aim of minimizing their presence in strategic areas,” said Amnesty International. Why it matters: There have been numerous reports about law enforcement agencies across the globe adopting surveillance technologies in the name of law and order. The enthusiastic use of these technologies especially by police groups has raised concerns about ‘surveillance states’ and the curbing of people’s basic rights like privacy. Here, we see an explicit example where facial recognition is being used to discriminate against a specific community. Already, Amnesty International is calling for a global ban on the development, sale and use of facial recognition technology for surveillance purposes. Considering the organization recently documented human rights…
