John,

Google’s new facial recognition technology is being misused by the Israeli military to surveil, capture, and torture Palestinian civilians -- and Google must bear some responsibility for making this technology available.

Israel is using Google Photos, secretly using facial capture technology with drones and at military checkpoints. The technology enables the Israelis to track and identify individuals using their huge military database; however, sometimes the software fails to identify the person correctly.

In the case of a mistaken identity, innocent civilians can be treated as if they were members of Hamas: questioned and beaten without mercy. Palestinian poet Mosab Abu Toha describes just such an experience: in a recent New Yorker essay, the poet describes how the Israeli military erroneously arrested, beat, and interrogated him, only to release him without charges telling him his arrest was a “mistake.”

Google needs to take their motto seriously and “Do the right thing.” They must take steps to prevent their software from being misappropriated and used to do harm to innocent civilians. It’s not acceptable to ignore the human consequences from misuse of the technology they have made available.

Tell Google CEO Sundar Pichai: Don't let your tech be complicit in war crimes! Sign the petition to urge Google to end Israel’s use of facial recognition technology that can be misused for surveillance in violation of human and civil rights.

The Israeli military’s misuse of Google’s recognition software to capture and torture innocent people is a reminder of the dehumanizing potential of technology. As the saying goes, our technology has surpassed our humanity.

We need to bring our use of technology within the moral and ethical reach of our humanity. Google must take action to protect human rights -- and protect their brand as a progressive company at the same time.

We need to hold Google accountable for how their technology is used in the war zones, especially in the complexities of asymmetrical warfare and the unintended (or even intended) involvement of civilian populations in military actions.

Join the petition today and tell Google to deny the Israeli military the use of facial recognition technology that denies human rights.

Thank you for encouraging Google to “do the right thing” in the context of military action.

- DFA AF Team