Imagine a society where a criminal could be tracked down almost immediately by police and taken into custody, all by using his face as identification. Or a world where you no longer need to carry your ID card, insurance information, or even your credit or debit cards because you could pay for your meal using facial recognition, as many do today in the eastern city of Hangzhou, China.

While all this might sound futuristic and far-fetched, it’s already creating a stir in our society. Governments and businesses around the world are thinking through innovative uses of facial recognition technology and are entering into lively debates over its merits and downfalls. And its uses seem to grow more controversial each day.

For more on the ethics of facial recognition, check out my latest book The Age of AI: Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Humanity or the recently released Artificial Intelligence: An Evangelical Statement of Principles from ERLC.

The Rundown

IBM will no longer offer, develop, or research facial recognition technology – The Verge

IBM will no longer offer general purpose facial recognition or analysis software, IBM CEO Arvind Krishna said in a letter to Congress today. The company will also no longer develop or research the technology, IBM tells The Verge.

Hawley calls for FTC inquiry into new TikTok rival – Axios

Zynn, a rising TikTok-like service that pays its users, is drawing the attention of China hawk and Big Tech antagonist Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), who wants the Federal Trade Commission to look into it.

Schools Turn to Surveillance Tech to Prevent Covid-19 Spread – Wired

When students return to school in New Albany, Ohio, in August, they’ll be carefully watched as they wander through red-brick buildings and across well-kept lawns—and not only by teachers.

TikTok Plans D.C. Office Amid Lawmaker Pressure on Privacy – Bloomberg Law

ByteDance Ltd.’s TikTok is opening a Washington office later this year to share information about security practices as lawmakers question its protections for children’s privacy and its ties to China.