New documents reported by Vice’s Motherboard raise fresh questions about the facial recognition system used by the Lockport, New York school district.
According to Vice, the records show that SN Technologies, the Canadian company that installed the system, gave the district inaccurate information about how well its algorithm works, including how often it misidentifies Black faces. Other records reportedly describe problems with the company’s AEGIS face and weapons detection tool, including mistaking objects like broom handles for guns. Baller Alert has not seen a response from SN Technologies.
Motherboard reports that the system alerts police when it detects a weapon or a person on the district’s watch list. Black students make up about 11 percent of Lockport students, and some Black families have worried about what a false alert could mean for their children.
Jim, a Lockport parent, told Motherboard he fears police will treat any alert as a live shooter situation, which raises the risk of a dangerous mistake.
The district has used the system since January, after disputes with parents, civil liberties groups and the New York State Education Department, which approved it in November 2019. Vice reports that Motherboard obtained an audit by Freed Maxick from the New York Civil Liberties Union, which represents Lockport parents in a lawsuit over the system.
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