A single mother's struggle exposes the devastating impact of facial recognition surveillance in public housing
Many local governments in the United States are investing in facial recognition technology via surveillance cameras to punish and evict residents, usually for minor infractions. Most developers have bought them because they believe that more extensive monitoring will make their housing complex safer.
Unfortunately, widespread use of this surveillance equipment in public housing has led to excessive monitoring and policing of residents' mundane activities. The repercussions of such monitoring have been devastating for some people. Read on to learn about the case of a single mother who was evicted due to such policing.
The unjust eviction of a single mother
Tania Acabou, a 33-year-old single mother, was evicted from a surveillance-heavy New Bedford, Massachusetts complex in 2021 for a ridiculously trivial reason. The housing authorities in New Bedford alleged that Acabou was evicted because she had exceeded the limit on the number of overnight visitors allowed. Acabou claims that her ex-husband was staying at her house, watching their child while she went to school at night to pursue a career as a lab technician.
The state of facial recognition for surveillance in the US.
There have been reports of public housing tenants being subjected to monitoring on par with that at New York's Riker's Island prison. That's a scary number, especially considering the track record of prejudice in automated surveillance technology, especially in regard to Black people and other oppressed groups. A good example of this is the use of facial recognition software in Steubenville. However, the results of that software are not of the highest quality.
Sadly, not all local housing authorities are willing to consider the potential unintended consequences of increased surveillance. It seems like residents of various housing projects will have to bear the risk of losing their homes over a trivial reason.
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