University of Miami accused of using facial recognition to track student protestors 

The University of Miami (UM) came under fire for allegedly using facial recognition to track students protesting against the university’s opening up plan during the COVID-19 pandemic.

University administrators denied that campus police used facial recognition software, saying that students were identified using ordinary footage. Students however claimed that a page on the UM website indicated campus police had introduced motion detection, facial recognition and object detection systems on-site.

The case led to 20 human rights organisations submitting a letter to the UM Board of Trustees calling for a ban on facial recognition. While it is unclear whether facial recognition was used, the incident triggered concerns of human and digital rights organisations about the extent to which private universities in the US are using invasive facial recognition surveillance.

Research, advocacy 🧮

• Fight for the Future (2020). 20+ human rights organizations call on University of Miami to ban facial recognition and meet student demands

News, commentary, analysis 🗞️

• https://www.wsj.com/articles/university-of-miami-becomes-latest-battleground-over-facial-recognition-11603233631

• https://www.wired.com/story/did-university-use-facial-recognition-id-student-protesters/ 

• https://bigthink.com/the-present/facial-recognition-software/

• https://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/university-of-miami-tracked-protesters-with-video-surveillance-11712139

• https://www.chronicle.com/article/how-a-protest-at-the-u-of-miami-reignited-the-student-surveillance-debate 

• https://www.forbes.com/sites/rachelsandler/2020/10/27/human-rights-groups-call-on-the-university-of-miami-to-ban-facial-recognition/