US prison inmate AI call monitoring plan raises privacy, bias concerns
Occurred: February 2022
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US prisons rolled out out an AI-based system that scans inmates' phone calls, prompting concerns about privacy, surveillance and discrimination.
Intended to keep prisons and jails safe, Leo Technologies' Verus system uses Amazon speech-to-text technology based on keywords to identify and transcribe prisoners' phone calls.
However, groups such as Access Now, the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Worth Rises expressed concerns that it would abuse the privacy rights of family members and others with whom prisoners are talking.
Another issue is discrimination. Research shows voice-to-text tools are significantly more inaccurate for Black voices and a higher percentage of Black people are detained or jailed in the US.
Surveillance was also considered a concern, with Reuters quoting documents that revealed instances of prisons and detention centres using Verus for purposes beyond maintaining safety, for example identifying conversations that would help them win court cases, and monitoring COVID-19.
The Intercept had earlier reported that prison officials in several US states had been using Verus to scan inmate calls for COVID-19 mentions and to flag complaints about the quality of prison response to the pandemic.
System 🤖
Verus 🔗
Operator: Suffolk County Sheriff's Office; Multiple
Developer: LEO Technologies
Country: USA
Sector: Govt - justice
Purpose: Improve safety
Technology: Speech-to-text; Machine learning
Issue: Bias/discrimination; Privacy; Surveillance
Research, advocacy 🧮
Stanford HAI (2023). 2023 AI Index Report - 3.2 AI Incidents (pdf)
STOP (2022). 55 Civil Rights Groups Demand DOJ, NY Investigate AI Audio Surveillance In Prisons, Jails
News, commentary, analysis 🗞️
https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/us-prisons-jails-ai-mass-monitor-millions-inmate/story?id=66370244
https://theintercept.com/2020/04/21/prisons-inmates-coronavirus-monitoring-surveillance-verus/
https://www.inputmag.com/tech/prisons-are-using-amazon-transcribe-ai-to-monitor-inmate-phone-calls
https://crimeandjusticenews.asu.edu/news/ai-being-used-monitor-prison-phone-calls
https://thecrimereport.org/2020/04/23/officials-scan-inmate-phone-calls-for-virus-mentions/
Page info
Type: Issue
Published: February 2022