Investment in Israeli facial recognition company called AnyVision was done by Microsoft this summer through its venture capital arm M12 and the US tech company now has hired US Attorney General Eric Holder to audit the company.
The ACLU has criticized the investment in the company by Microsoft back then.
According to news reports, monitoring of monitor Palestinian residents in the West Bank is done secretly with the use of the technology of AnyVision. However allegations that its facial recognition tech was used for surveillance in the West Bank have been denied by AnyVision.
There have in recent times been criticisms of the use of facial recognition technology and in such an environment, Microsoft has tried to portray itself a leader in ethical use of technology which includes the six principles to guide its facial recognition work that was published by the company in December last year.
Investigations how the company's technology is being used will be conducted by Holder who would reportedly leading a team of former federal prosecutors.
The investigations would try and find out whether AnyVision has been following the Redmond-based company's ethical principles meant to act as a guidance for facial recognition technology.
"They will move quickly, reviewing documents and conducting on the ground interviews with AnyVision employees and others to ensure a full and thorough investigation," a Microsoft spokesman said in a statement.
M12, Microsoft's venture capital arm, recently announced that it would contribute to a $78 million Series A funding round for AnyVision.
Officially, the Israeli military has been using the facial recognition technology of AnyVision at the border crossing checkpoints with Palestine in order to log faces of the Palestinians getting into Israel. But recent news reports have alleged the secret use of the technology.
"They will move quickly, reviewing documents and conducting on the ground interviews with AnyVision employees and others to ensure a full and thorough investigation," a Microsoft spokesman said in a statement.
(Source.www.businessinsider.com)
The ACLU has criticized the investment in the company by Microsoft back then.
According to news reports, monitoring of monitor Palestinian residents in the West Bank is done secretly with the use of the technology of AnyVision. However allegations that its facial recognition tech was used for surveillance in the West Bank have been denied by AnyVision.
There have in recent times been criticisms of the use of facial recognition technology and in such an environment, Microsoft has tried to portray itself a leader in ethical use of technology which includes the six principles to guide its facial recognition work that was published by the company in December last year.
Investigations how the company's technology is being used will be conducted by Holder who would reportedly leading a team of former federal prosecutors.
The investigations would try and find out whether AnyVision has been following the Redmond-based company's ethical principles meant to act as a guidance for facial recognition technology.
"They will move quickly, reviewing documents and conducting on the ground interviews with AnyVision employees and others to ensure a full and thorough investigation," a Microsoft spokesman said in a statement.
M12, Microsoft's venture capital arm, recently announced that it would contribute to a $78 million Series A funding round for AnyVision.
Officially, the Israeli military has been using the facial recognition technology of AnyVision at the border crossing checkpoints with Palestine in order to log faces of the Palestinians getting into Israel. But recent news reports have alleged the secret use of the technology.
"They will move quickly, reviewing documents and conducting on the ground interviews with AnyVision employees and others to ensure a full and thorough investigation," a Microsoft spokesman said in a statement.
(Source.www.businessinsider.com)