AWS advised to exit DHS biometric data-hosting system contract

Amazon Web Services has been urged by Access Now, Just Futures Law, the Immigration Defense Project, and other digital and human rights activists to cancel a contract with hosting the Department of Homeland Security's new biometric data collection system, which invades privacy and human rights, CyberScoop reports. "By hosting DHS HART [Homeland Advanced Recognition Technology] database, AWS is directly facilitating the creation of an invasive biometrics database that will supercharge surveillance and deportation, risking human rights violations," the groups wrote in a letter. The HART system, which will replace the DHS's Automated Biometric Identification system, is poised to contain 270 million individuals' profiles, including 6.7 million iris scans and 1.1 billion facial photos, and would enable the Immigration and Customs Enforcement to access biometrics from Mexico, Guatemala, Jamaica, El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, and the Bahamas. "They make it painstakingly clear that the data is not safe and no one will know how it will end up and how it will be repurposed," said Access Now U.S. Policy and Advocacy Manager Jennifer Brody.