Reflecting the continued national debate about the use of surveillance technology by police, the city council in Berkeley, California voted to ban facial recognition use by its police department and other public agencies. The move makes Berkeley the fourth American city to do so, following in the footsteps of governments in San Francisco, Oakland and Sommerville, Massachusetts. All four cities have adopted those measures in just the past year.
Berkeley passed the facial recognition ban as part of an amendment to an ordinance that requires council approval for the purchase of any surveillance technology. City officials say they have never sought the use of facial recognition software and do not have any in place.
Kate Harrison, the councilwoman who proposed the amendment, said that cities have a responsibility to take action on the issue before “mass surveillance” is imposed on their lives. “We cannot afford to write off the various performance issues related to facial recognition technology as mere engineering problems; facial recognition surveillance poses a range of fundamental constitutional problems,” Harrison told the News. “In the face of federal and state inaction, it is incumbent upon cities to enact laws that protect communities from mass surveillance.”
