"Seven Democratic senators, led by Senator Edward Markey (D-MA), sent a letter to ICE acting director Todd Lyons on Thursday asking the agency to immediately cease use of a mobile biometric identification app known as Mobile Fortify over concerns about bias, inaccuracy, and a chilling effect on civil rights in the US. The Senators wrote that Mobile Fortify is a particular concern to them because it's available as a smartphone app,"
"The letter points to plenty of previous research reports that highlighted bias in facial recognition, with higher false identification rates for Black subjects. The US government's own study performed last year found that only two of five face recognition platforms it tested were equitable across demographics. The government has plowed ahead, adopting the technology despite studies like those and recommendations from the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine that the tech be reigned in until it gets better."
"According to reports, which first surfaced in June, the app has access to more than 200 million images and is able to return data including a person's name, birthdate, nationality, and any dealings with the US immigration system if they aren't a US citizen. The app reportedly also has the ability to capture a fingerprint from a photograph, which can then be run against DHS"
Seven Democratic senators, led by Edward Markey, requested that ICE immediately cease using the Mobile Fortify mobile biometric identification app because of bias, inaccuracy, and civil‑rights concerns. Mobile Fortify operates as a smartphone app, allowing any agent with cellular access to run searches without bringing subjects in for stationary facial-recognition processing. Studies have shown higher false-identification rates for Black people and the U.S. government found only two of five platforms tested were equitable across demographics. Reported app capabilities include access to over 200 million images, returned biographical and immigration data, and extracting fingerprints from photographs.
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