Security News > 2021 > May > States Push Back Against Use of Facial Recognition by Police
Law enforcement agencies across the U.S. have used facial recognition technology to solve homicides and bust human traffickers, but concern about its accuracy and the growing pervasiveness of video surveillance is leading some state lawmakers to hit the pause button.
The issue caught fire in statehouses after law enforcement applied facial recognition technology to images taken from street cameras during last year's racial justice demonstrations - and in some cases used those to make arrests.
The American Civil Liberties Union began raising questions about the technology years ago, citing studies that found higher error rates for facial recognition software used to identify people of color.
It prohibits local law enforcement agencies and campus police departments - though not state police - from purchasing or using facial recognition technology unless expressly authorized by the state legislature.
He said facial recognition technology is just one tool used by police agencies - and not to the extent politicians suggest.
In Ohio, Republican Attorney General Dave Yost headed off a restrictive law on facial recognition data - at least so far - by conducting his own investigation into the state's images database in response to a Georgetown University Law Center report that found immigration officials were applying the technology to driver's license photos in some states.