City of Portland Bans Facial Recognition Technology by Public and Private Entities

On September 9, 2020, lawmakers in Portland, Oregon passed the nation’s most far-reaching facial recognition ban.  The ban prohibits public agencies and private enterprises from using the facial recognition technology in public spaces.

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. Massachusetts is currently considering a bill that would impose a state-wide ban on the technology.

Although the use of facial recognition, and biometrics generally, remains largely unregulated in the United States, the regulatory landscape is gradually evolving.  In March, the State of Washington passed the first public sector facial recognition regulation in the country.  The most notable private sector law is the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act which requires private entities to provide notice and obtain written consent before biometric information is collected, prohibits the sale of and restricts the overall disclosure of biometric information, and requires companies to follow a reasonable standard of care in storing, transmitting, and protecting biometric information from disclosure.  The laws in Texas and Washington similarly require consent before collection of the biometric information.  However, only the Illinois law provides a remedy of a private rights of action where a company fails to obtain the required consent.

Ask Clarip today how we can solve your biggest privacy compliance pain points, Call Clarip at 1-888-252-5653