Students and activists gathered for the March Against Carceral Tech at Carnegie Mellon University on Monday to protest the use of facial recognition technology and bring awareness to the relationship between academic institutions and state violence.

This summer, CMU drafted a policy that would have allowed the university to use facial recognition during criminal investigations. Civil liberties advocates and researchers have expressed concern that this technology normalizes surveillance and threatens privacy. Following community feedback, CMU shelved the policy.  

Read more: Draft policy would allow CMU police to use facial recognition

The groups CMU Against ICE and Coalition Against Predictive Policing came together to create the Against Carceral Tech group and organized the march, which started at the Walking to the Sky statue and ended at Flagstaff Hill. The march stopped at buildings that organizers said have contributed to the advancements in carceral tech, or technology that’s used to aid the police in incarcerating people. Speakers voiced their concerns about exploitation of students in tech fields. 

Against Carceral Tech is calling for a citywide ban on facial recognition technology, according to a press release about the march. In 2020, Pittsburgh City Council passed legislation largely prohibiting the Department of Public Safety from using or acquiring facial recognition technology without receiving approval. The legislation does not cover JNET, a system with facial recognition capabilities that state law enforcement agencies can use. 

  • Tanisha Long shouts chants through a megaphone while walking down Forbes Ave during the March Against Carceral Tech on Monday, Sept. 26, 2022.
    Tanisha Long shouts chants through a megaphone while walking down Forbes Avenue during the March Against Carceral Tech on Monday, Sept. 26, 2022. (Photo by Lilly Kubit/PublicSource)
  • March Against Carceral Tech participants march down a hill on Carnegie Mellon University's campus toward Forbes Ave on Monday, Sept. 26, 2022.
    March Against Carceral Tech participants march down a hill on Carnegie Mellon University’s campus toward Forbes Avenue on Monday, Sept. 26, 2022. (Photo by Lilly Kubit/PublicSource)
  • Laura Perkins, emergency response organizer of Casa San Jose, spoke to the protesters during the March Against Carceral Tech on Monday, Sept. 26, 2022. Perkins talked about how facial recognition software is less accurate on darker skin tones, and people without proof of identification can be accused of a crime they did not commit. (Photo by Lilly Kubit/PublicSource)
  • President and CEO of Alliance for Police Accountability Brandi Fisher speaks to the crowd at the Walking to the Sky statue during the March Against Carceral Tech on Sept. 26, 2022.
    Brandi Fisher, president and CEO of the Alliance for Police Accountability, speaks to the crowd at the Walking to the Sky statue during the March Against Carceral Tech on Sept. 26, 2022. (Photo by Lilly Kubit/PublicSource)
  • Mel Packer (left) and Abhishek Viswanathan (right) hold up a sign at the March Against Carceral Tech next to the Walking to the Sky statue on Monday, Sept. 26, 2022.
    Mel Packer (left) and Abhishek Viswanathan (right) hold up a sign at the March Against Carceral Tech next to the Walking to the Sky statue on Monday, Sept. 26, 2022. (Photo by Lilly Kubit/PublicSource)
  • Bonnie Fan speaks to the March Against Carceral Tech participants next to the Walking to the Sky statue on Monday, Sept. 26, 2022. (Photo by Lilly Kubit/PublicSource)
  • Protestors stop and listen to speakers on Forbes Ave during the March Against Carceral Tech on Sept. 26, 2022.
    Protesters stop and listen to speakers on Forbes Avenue during the March Against Carceral Tech on Sept. 26, 2022. (Photo by Lilly Kubit/PublicSource)

Bonnie Fan, a CMU graduate, helped to organize Against Carceral Tech and the march.

“I learned that this institution does not care about me or you or any of its workers or students, and learned that instead it was my fellow students and community members organizing outside of campus to show up for me and show up for all of us,” Fan said.

Groups in attendance included the Thomas Merton Center, Divest and Sanctions Coalition, Alliance for Police Accountability, Casa San Jose and other organizers from Pittsburgh, CMU and the University of Pittsburgh.

Read more: Pittsburgh City Council votes to regulate facial recognition

Marchers also protested against the intersectionality of state violence and academic institutions. Various speakers shared their experience with gentrification, racial profiling, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and poor treatment of incarcerated individuals. 

Tanisha Long, a community organizer with the Abolitionist Law Center, said carceral tech led to her being arrested three times. She said her mother has also been arrested due to the technologies. Long directly referenced license plate scanners, facial recognition and racial profiling as things that led to her arrests.

“I am a part of this system whether I want to be a part of it or not. My name will always be in their database,” she said.

Read more: Should the government regulate facial recognition scans?

Lilly Kubit is a photojournalism intern at PublicSource. They can be reached at lillian@publicsource.org.

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Lilly Kubit (she/they) is a photojournalism intern at PublicSource. Hailing from the suburbs of Pittsburgh and now living in Shadyside, Lilly loves to be a part of her community. She is currently a senior...