Live data from Hacker News

Amazon shareholders demand it stop selling facial recognition to governments

independent.co.uk

1–10 of 128 posts

Re: Amazon shareholders demand it stop selling facial recognition to governments

#2
Good. "We don't want you doing shady things that damage the brand's reputation in order to make a buck" is the kind of message shareholders should be sending to all companies.

Edit: Apparently I'm wrong and shareholders should be pushing for profits regardless of means?

I know Amazon isn't exactly known for treating people well but they're no Monsanto or Blackwater either. Amazon sells to consumers and is therefore dependent on public opinion to make sales. With the increasing public awareness of just how pervasive consumer tracking is it's becoming a touchy subject. If Amazon wants to keep expanding its market share for home goods then anything that risks associating its brand with government tracking is a very high risk. That would make me uncomfortable if I had Amazon shares.

Re: Amazon shareholders demand it stop selling facial recognition to governments

#4

A much more accurate title would be "19 Amazon shareholders demand it stop selling facial recognition to governments." They even wrote a sternly worded letter!

Pretty soon, they'll have to move to outright scowling at at Jeff Bezos!

Re: Amazon shareholders demand it stop selling facial recognition to governments

#6

A much more accurate title would be "19 Amazon shareholders demand it stop selling facial recognition to governments." They even wrote a sternly worded letter!

> They even wrote a sternly worded letter

Privately delivered to Amazon by the ACLU. Until one of the signatories, who is also a major Amazon shareholder, goes public with their disgruntlement this should merit no further attention.

Re: Amazon shareholders demand it stop selling facial recognition to governments

#8

A much more accurate title would be "19 Amazon shareholders demand it stop selling facial recognition to governments." They even wrote a sternly worded letter!

Pretty soon, they'll have to move to outright scowling at at Jeff Bezos!

Or a tweet. That is how most official communication is handled these days, right?

Re: Amazon shareholders demand it stop selling facial recognition to governments

#10
post #5

While I applaud this effort, this will not stop the use of the technology. It will simply steer them to another provider or a custom implementation (on top of AWS if they so choose to) of this now well-understood technology.

Sure. But let's be clear - it is good to have as many software developers as possible steering away from unethical work.
Post reply on HN