IBM said the US Commerce Department should introduce new controls to restrict the export of facial recognition systems to repressive regimes that can be used to violate human rights, Reuters reported.

The company said in a statement the US should institute new export limits on “the type of facial recognition system most likely to be used in mass surveillance systems, racial profiling or other human rights violations.”

In July, the Commerce Department requested public comment on the adoption of new export license requirements for facial recognition software and other biometric systems used for surveillance.

IBM said the department should control “export of both the high-resolution cameras used to collect data and the software algorithms used to analyze and match that data against a database of images” and argued it should “limit the ability of certain foreign governments to obtain the large-scale computing components required to implement an integrated facial recognition system.”

The company’s written comments did not identify specific governments but said “controls on the most powerful types of facial recognition technology should be focused on those countries that have a history of human rights abuses.”