Your membership has expired - last chance for uninterrupted access to free CLE and other benefits. The Facial Recognition and Biometric Technology Moratorium Act responds to reports that hundreds of local, state, and federal entities, including law enforcement agencies, have used unregulated facial recognition technologies and research showing that that roughly half of U. S. adults are already in facial recognition databases. by scanning shoppers faces and comparing them to photos in a database of known shoplifters. Massachusetts lawmakers passed one of the first state-wide restrictions of facial recognition as part of a sweeping police reform law. Europe edges closer to a ban on facial recognition - POLITICO Steven Senne/AP. Updated, 1-3-21, 8pm ET: An earlier version of this article incorrectly said Pangiam does not offer its technology to law enforcement. Illinois led the way in this legislative trend by limiting private firms ability to collect biometric data without consent. It is clear that both the left and the right of the political spectrum are seeking to curb the use of facial recognition and biometric software by law enforcement. This technique, commonly called voiceprint identification, lets surveillance equipment instantly turn our words into searchable text as we walk down the street. The table below illustrates the different regulations in place currently at the city and state level. Ban dangerous facial recognition technology that amplifies racist The Department of Homeland Security currently uses facial recognition to scan images of travelers leaving and exiting the country and compares the image to photos that are already on file, such as passport photos. Facial recognition is used to check outgoing international travelers at 32 US airports. The General Services Administration, which oversees federal contractors, said in a report released last month that major facial recognition tools disproportionately failed to match African Americans in its tests. Recently, concerns have been raised about Clearview AI, a company that scrapes images from Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and other social media sites without any notification to users and incorporates them into a facial recognition database that has been sold to hundreds of police departments. Incode, an identity verification startup based in San Francisco, says its face recognition checked more than 140 million identities in 2021, roughly four times as many as in the previous three years combined. Ethics of Facial Recognition: Key Issues and Solutions - G2 Clearview, which helps police find matches in the social media data, said it welcomes "any regulation that helps society get the most benefit from facial recognition technology while limiting potential downsides." State governments have their own rules too. of travelers leaving and exiting the country and compares the image to photos that are already on file, such as passport photos. Many uses of face recognition have lower stakes than in policing; some, like unlocking a phone with a glance, can be seductively convenient. Lawmakers in Illinois have introduced legislation that would amend the Illinois Identification Card Act to prohibit providing facial recognition search services on photographs used for drivers licenses and identification cards to any federal, state, or local law enforcement agency (IL HB 4525 and IL SB 2269). Most significantly, it gives a person a right of action against an offending party. Damages are set per violation: $1,000 if caused by negligence and $5,000 if intentional. Virginia in July will eliminate its prohibition on local police use of facial recognition a year after approving it, and California and the city of New Orleans as soon as this month could be next to hit the undo button. WIRED may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. However, it is not an unconditional ban since it includes an . After the loss in Virginia, civil liberties groups are escalating in New Orleans. Shortly thereafter, in June 2021, TikTok changed its privacy policy to state that TikTok may collect biometric identifiers including faceprints and voiceprints. Plaintiffs filed a class action suit against Snapchat in 2020 for violations of BIPA. The Air Force also uses Pangiams technology to speed identity checks at base entrances, and the cryptocurrency exchange Everest uses it sign up new customers. This is not likely to happen on the federal level, though, anytime soon: Even as pressure from activists builds, Congress has so far been unable to pass even a basic federal online privacy law; this months House Oversight Committee hearing on facial recognition has just been punted to next year. Shaun Moore, a Pangiam executive who joined the company when it acquired his face recognition startup Trueface earlier this year, says the debate about police use of the technology can obscure its value in other areas. "Addressing discriminatory policing by double-checking the algorithm is a bit like trying to solve police brutality by checking the gun isn't racist: strictly speaking it's better than the alternative, but the real problem is the person holding it," said Os Keyes, an Ada Lovelace Fellow at University of Washington. California passed a new law that banned law enforcement from using facial recognition in their body cameras but not in other police surveillance cameras. Police in Austria, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovenia, and the Netherlands employ facial recognition technologies for 'ex-post identification' in. Its system usually worked effectively for the faces of middle-aged white males but poorly for people of color, the elderly, women, and children. , Massachusetts, soon instituted similar bans. Another concern surrounding facial recognition technology is its accuracy. BIPA defines a biometric identifier as a retina or iris scan, fingerprint, voiceprint, or scan of hand or face geometry. The law requires written consent for an entity to collect, capture, purchase, receive, disclose, or disseminate biometric information. Police departments, schools, retailers, and airlines are using facial recognition to do everything from ensuring student attendance to identifying criminal suspects. Massachusetts Passes One Of The First State-Wide Laws On Facial School districts utilize the technology for, to alert administrators, teachers, and security staff when an unauthorized individual has entered school grounds. All quotes delayed a minimum of 15 minutes. Barlow Keener, Senior Division Counsel, is a member of Womble Bond Dickinsons GCSolutions and Communications, Technology & Media teams, where he brings more than 20 years of regulatory, transactional, and corporate law American Bar Association State and local policymakers are beginning to study current and future uses of facial recognition technology and make decisions to restrict or ban its use. Members of US Congress and some states have supported the initiatives but it is city governments that have led the way; several have blocked the use of the technology in their. . These might include: sharply constraining real-time use (as opposed to forensic or investigative use with a warrant in the criminal justice system) of biometrics for any purpose; permitting easy opt-outs from the use of biometric data for commercial purposes; greatly limiting the retention of all biometric data; requiring continued, intrusive auditing of (and public reporting about) the use of biometric data by both companies and government; swiftly punishing misuse of this data; and prohibiting biometric use in particular contexts that are prone to discriminatory activities, such as selecting people for particular jobs, insuring them, or admitting them to educational programs. Both Virginia and Massachusetts have banned some police use of facial recognition. Also, the implementation of a private right of action by Illinois has produced results in terms of keeping companies in line with regard to privacy rights. The law expires on January 1, 2023. New York Banned Facial Recognition in Schools. Will Other States Follow? Washington's largest county bans government use of facial recognition Misuse can lead to a misdemeanor. Eric Adams, who became mayor in January, said a month later that it could be used safely under existing rules, while his predecessor Bill de Blasio had called for more caution. But the prohibition expires on Jan. 1 because of a provision state senators added. Facial recognition technology is used or has been approved for use in two dozen U.S. airports, and is in use by more than 30 state and local police departments. Still other states have passed laws limiting law enforcements use of facial recognition and biometric data. Check out our Gear teams picks for the. Home Pregnancy Tests Could Now Put Women in Danger, The technology made it possible to detect pregnancy early. From 2019 through 2021, about two dozen U.S. state or local governments passed laws restricting facial recognition. To ban it or chip away from its application would be a little short-sighted, said Mayor John Dennis, a former police officer. Business Regulation & Regulated Industries, 9 U.S. bans investment in SenseTime facial recognition over Uyghur Though the recent studies have eased lawmakers' reservations, debate is ongoing.