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The Attack on the Capitol Should Spark a New Debate On Facial Recognition
We need a 4th amendment framework for ethical use of the tech
This week, the world looked on with concern, followed by horror and disgust, as an armed mob of insurgents stormed the US Capitol building, threatening lawmakers and briefly disrupting the process of certifying Joe Biden’s election victory. The Atlantic referred to the attack, accurately, as an attempted coup. The insurgents wandered the halls of Congress, swinging from the walls of the House chamber, ransacking offices, and walking off with mementos. One photo shows an insurgent wearing a Trump hat smiling and waving gleefully, as he walks off with a podium bearing the US seal.
Parties on both sides of the political spectrum have condemned the violence. But during the whole terrible spectacle, actual arrests were glaringly absent. According to NPR, by Thursday morning only 70 people had been arrested in relation to the attacks — most for minor charges of violating a citywide curfew — out of a mob that appeared hundreds strong. The law enforcement response to the attacks has already drawn harsh criticism, with the New York Times reporting that Capitol police were hopelessly outnumbered and under-supported, and others drawing stark comparisons with the response to Black Lives Matter protests…
