Vermont Enacts a Moratorium on Facial Recognition Technology by Law Enforcement

Vermont enacted a statute (S. 124, Section 14) which prohibits state law enforcement from using facial recognition technology or information acquired through the use of facial recognition technology without a future express consent of the legislature.  Law enforcement, however, would be permitted to use facial recognition in connection with data collection by law enforcement drones but only with respect to the specific target of the surveillance.  See 20 V.S.A. § 4622.

Privacy advocates have long been signaling concerns about unregulated use of facial recognition in the United States. According to the Georgetown University study, law enforcement face recognition networks include every other adult in the country. At least 1 out of 4 state or local police departments has an option to run face recognition searches through their or another agency’s system.  As many as 30 states allow law enforcement to run or request searches against their database of driver’s license and ID photos.  One of the major issues with the technology is that it has been shown to be less accurate on people of color, women, and other minority groups.

A number of the U.S. municipalities, including Boston, San Francisco, and Oakland, as well as Springfield, Somerville, Brookline, Northampton, and Cambridge in Massachusetts have banned the use of facial recognition software by law enforcement.  Portland prohibits public agencies and private enterprises from using the facial recognition technology in public spaces.  In addition, California and Oregon have enacted moratorium on police use of facial recognition technology with body cameras.  Massachusetts, in turn, is currently considering a bill that would impose a state-wide ban on the technology.

In March, the State of Washington passed the first public sector facial recognition regulation in the country.

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