Amnesty International and the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (STOP [10]) released [11] on Nov. 12 more than 2,700 New York Police Department (NYPD) documents [12] obtained after a five-year lawsuit. The groups say that the documents reveal extensive and discriminatory surveillance practices.
The records, ordered [13] to be disclosed by a New York state court in 2022, show repeated use of facial recognition technology (FRT) against individuals engaged in everyday activity as well as political expression. According to the organizations, the disclosures detail how the NYPD relied on FRT to identify people flagged by public reports that labeled them "suspicious" for speaking a foreign language or wearing culturally distinctive clothing. Advocates say the documents demonstrate that racial and cultural profiling frequently served as the basis for surveillance queries.
The records also reveal [11] that the NYPD spent more than $5 million on facial recognition technology between 2019 and 2020, and has continued to invest at least $100,000 annually. The department stopped tracking FRT accuracy in 2015 after finding error rates too high, yet continued to deploy the technology. In one instance, officers worked with the US Marshals Service to contract a facial recognition firm to surveil a private social media account, apparently in violation of departmental policy.
The documents further show the NYPD using facial recognition to monitor political expression. Officers reviewed social media posts using slang to reference Times Square on New Year’s Eve ("NYE in Times Square is da BOMB"), and conducted queries related to graffiti of a common protest slogan against the police force (abbreviated as "FTP"). The groups also cite a Dec. 31, 2019 report in which two men in Times Square were subjected to FRT after being reported for speaking a Middle Eastern language and not dancing.
Amnesty International and STOP are calling on New York City lawmakers to enact legislation banning government use of facial recognition, noting that two measures pushed by a "Ban the Scan" coalition already have majority sponsorship in the City Council. However, the groups urge the NYPD and the mayor to halt use of the technology immediately.
Amnesty International warned in 2022 of a pattern of NYPD surveillance disproportionately affecting [16] Black and brown communities, and now charges that the use of FRT creates a chilling effect on free expression and peaceful assembly.
The UN warned [17] mid-June 2025 that the use of artificial intelligence, such as FRT, must comply with international human rights standards. In the report [18], the UN Working Group on Business & Human Rights stated that AI that cannot comply with human rights standards should be prohibited, and urged states to "establish human rights policies for AI deployment."
From JURIST [19], Nov. 14. Used with permission.
