Amazon's facial recognition ban only garnered 2% of shareholder votes

(Reuters) – The shareholders of Amazon.com Inc. overwhelmingly rejected the proposal that the company would stop selling facial recognition technology to government agencies, while the resolution of the audit of the service attracted more support, revealed a regulatory filing released Friday.

Some 2.4% of the votes were in favor of the ban. A second proposal, which called for a study of the extent to which Amazon's "recognition" service infringed on civil rights and privacy, received 27.5% support.

The sale of this technology by Amazon to the Oregon and Florida law enforcement agencies has placed the company at the center of a growing debate in the United States on facial recognition, critics warning fake matches and arrests and promoters claiming the public is safe.

Amazon defended its work and said that all users must comply with the law.

These resolutions, along with other shareholder resolutions of Amazon, were facing a tough battle to gain the support of the majority of votes, with Amazon's board of directors recommending them as well as the founder and director. General, Jeff Bezos, controlling 16% of the shares and voting rights.

The support calculation was based on the total votes for, against and abstaining. The meters excluded the votes of the brokers.

In the United States, law enforcement has been using facial recognition for years, and suppliers of this technology have abounded, including the French company Idemia, the Japanese company NEC Corp and newcomers such as the Israeli company AnyVision and Microsoft Corp., who have been calling for regulation in recent months.

Now, US Congressmen are studying the impact of technology on rights. The commercialization of Amazon's facial recognition has come under scrutiny, and researchers have said its technology has struggled to identify the sex of darker-skinned individuals, raising fears of unjust arrests.

Among other issues discussed by shareholders prior to Amazon's annual meeting on Wednesday, there was a request to facilitate the convening by investors of an extraordinary meeting with 35.3% of the votes.

29.8% of the votes were proposed to the company. Nearly 7,700 employees signed a letter of support for climate resolution, a sign of rising militancy among Amazon workers.