Assertion Supported AI assessment confidence: 90% certainty 4/5 debate potential 3/5

Khan: NYPD testified it lacks accuracy data for its facial recognition systems

Albert Fox Khan · AI + You: 5 ways to ethically build — and use — AI | Masters of Scale · Oct 31, 2023 · at 27:34

Albert Fox Khan was not on this episode. A recording of them was played into it, so these are their words but not an appearance on Masters of Scale. It still counts as said, and it is kept out of every score on their page.

Albert Fox Khan, executive director of the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (STOP), details police reliance on facial recognition algorithms without testing data.

0:00 / 0:24exact quote · 24.3s

▶ Watch the full episode on YouTube → 720p mp4 · rendered on demand · StarZero watermark

“When we asked the NYPD for its own data on the bias and the accuracy of this technology, when we wanted to look underneath the algorithmic hood at how this system is operating, they told us under oath they don't have any data on how accurate this technology is or how biased it is. And yet they're still using it more than 10,000 times a year to target New Yorkers.”

quote is from the automated transcript, cleaned for reading: filler sounds and stutters are removed, nothing is rephrased. names can be misheard (the analysis reads context, assessments check outside sources). how →

The claim, plainly

The NYPD stated under oath that it has no data on the accuracy or bias of its facial recognition systems, despite deploying the technology more than 10,000 times a year.

a quote alone can be ambiguous, so this restates it with the references and context of the conversation around it resolved. AI-written; the tape below the player is the source.

Assessment

Both components of Albert Fox Cahn's claim are substantiated by public legal filings and official records. First, in September 2021, during Article 78 litigation brought by the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (S.T.O.P. v. NYPD), the NYPD submitted a sworn affidavit attesting under oath that, following a diligent search, the department possessed no records or data evaluating the accuracy or demographic bias of its facial recognition systems. Second, public disclosures and investigative reporting confirmed annual facial recognition deployment exceeding 10,000 uses: the NYPD Facial Identification Section logged approximately 9,850 comparison requests (with public records analysis by Amnesty International and S.T.O.P. identifying approximately 11,000 cases) in 2019, alongside reporting that NYPD officers conducted over 11,000 searches via third-party vendor Clearview AI.

In September 2021, the NYPD submitted a sworn affidavit in S.T.O.P. v. NYPD confirming it had no responsive records or data evaluating the accuracy or demographic bias of its facial recognition systems.
Official NYPD disclosures and public records showed 9,850 to roughly 11,000 facial recognition comparison cases logged in 2019 alone, in addition to over 11,000 searches conducted via Clearview AI.

Checked against

[1] stopspying.org [2] jurist.org [3] nyc.gov [4] amnesty.org [5] gijn.org [6] fastcompany.com [7] mastersofscale.com [8] amnesty.org

"Albert Fox Cahn" "facial recognition" "10,000" "under oath" OR "no data" NYPD sworn testimony facial recognition data accuracy bias "Surveillance Technology Oversight Project" "facial recognition" "accuracy" "bias" "sworn" OR "affidavit" OR "under oath" NYPD facial recognition 10000 times a year "NYPD" "facial recognition" "10,000" searches OR requests OR times NYPD STOP facial recognition sworn oath accuracy bias

assessed as of 2026-08-27

This assessment is an AI reading of a public statement, made against the cited references with the confidence shown. It can be wrong. The quote, the tape and the references are all on this page; if something is off, use report an error below. full disclaimer →

Mentioned

Albert Fox Khan facial recognition NYPD

⚑ Spot an error? Report it

More from Albert Fox Khan

Insight

Khan: Managers deploying AI tools must subject themselves to the same tools

“One of the easiest things that any manager, any teacher can do, you need to subject yourself to the same tools you're using on the people around you.”

Albert Fox Khan Oct 31, 2023 ▶ 28:18 AI + You: 5 ways to ethically build — and use — AI | Masters of Scale

Khan: NYPD testified it lacks accuracy data for its facial recognition systems

More from Albert Fox Khan

Turn any episode into a week of clips.