Massachusetts Considers the First State-Wide Ban on the Use of Facial Recognition Technology by Law Enforcement

The Massachusetts Senate is set to vote on a bill that, if approved, would ban law enforcement use of facial recognition technology. Specifically, an omnibus police reform bill (S. 2800) would place a moratorium on the facial recognition technology until at least Dec. 31, 2021.  At that point, a task force would make recommendations about permanently banning the technology or regulating it.

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.

If the bill is enacted, Massachusetts would become the first state to impose a state-wide ban on the technology.  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 already banned the use of facial recognition software by law enforcement.  Next week, Portland city council will  consider a ban on the use of facial recognition by the city agencies.  In addition, California has enacted a three-year  moratorium on police use of facial recognition technology with body cameras.  Oregon also has a similar law in place.

As we recently reported, the State of Washington took a different approach and in March passed the first public sector facial recognition regulation in the country.

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