San Francisco Bans Facial Recognition Technology
This A.I. needs regulations for its use, say businesses and governments.
May 16, 2019
SAN FRANCISCO—San Francisco is the first U.S. city to officially ban the use of facial recognition by local agencies, according to the Wall Street Journal.
As NACS Daily reported Monday, the technology is a concern of both law enforcement and the tech industry, with some arguing that it could perpetuate police bias and give authorities excessive surveillance powers.
Across the country, officials, activists and businesses are debating how to balance the usefulness of rapidly improving artificial-intelligence technologies against their potential to invade privacy and challenge civil liberties.
Already, dozens of police departments nationwide routinely apply facial recognition to databases of mug shots and driver’s license photos to identify suspects. And at least 18 states open their photo databases to the FBI, which processed more than 9,000 facial-recognition searches in March, according to official statistics.
Currently, other cities are considering similar bans, including nearby Oakland, Calif., and Somerville, Mass., near Boston. The Massachusetts Senate also is studying a bill that would prohibit the use of facial recognition technology until regulations for its use are enacted.
