Protesters march down Forbes Avenue toward the University of Pittsburgh during the March Against Carceral Tech on Monday, Sept. 26, 2022. (Photo by Lilly Kubit/PublicSource)
Photos and text by Lilly Kubit, PublicSource
Students and activists gathered for the March Against Carceral Tech at Carnegie Mellon University on Monday to protest the use of facial recognition technology and bring awareness to the relationship between academic institutions and state violence.
This summer, CMU drafted a policy that would have allowed the university to use facial recognition during criminal investigations. Civil liberties advocates and researchers have expressed concern that this technology normalizes surveillance and threatens privacy. Following community feedback, CMU shelved the policy.
The groups CMU Against ICE and Coalition Against Predictive Policing came together to create the Against Carceral Tech group and organized the march, which started at the Walking to the Sky statue and ended at Flagstaff Hill. The march stopped at buildings that organizers said have contributed to the advancements in carceral tech, or technology that’s used to aid the police in incarcerating people. Speakers voiced their concerns about exploitation of students in tech fields.
Against Carceral Tech is calling for a citywide ban on facial recognition technology, according to a press release about the march. In 2020, Pittsburgh City Council passed legislation largely prohibiting the Department of Public Safety from using or acquiring facial recognition technology without receiving approval. The legislation does not cover JNET, a system with facial recognition capabilities that state law enforcement agencies can use.
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