Berkeley bans use of facial recognition

It's the fourth U.S. city to prohibit public agencies' use of the technology

Berkeley’s city council has banned the use of facial recognition by its police department and other public agencies, making it the fourth city in the nation to do so.

The measure, an amendment to the East Bay city’s pioneering ordinance that requires city council approval for the purchase of surveillance technology, passed Tuesday night.

“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,” said Kate Harrison, the councilwoman who proposed the ban, said Wednesday. “In the face of federal and state inaction, it is incumbent upon cities to enact laws that protect communities from mass surveillance.”

When asked for comment, the Berkeley Police Department did not respond but referred the question to the city.

“City staff have never sought the use of facial recognition software, nor do we have any in place,” said Matthai Chakko, spokesman for Berkeley.

Studies have shown that facial recognition — which relies on machine learning and may not have diverse datasets — can be inaccurate, especially when identifying women or minorities. The issue has prompted artificial-intelligence experts, privacy advocates and others to call for safeguards related to the technology’s use by law enforcement.

In addition, the ACLU in August released its analysis that the technology mistook the faces of 26 California lawmakers for mugshots. That followed its analysis last year that showed facial recognition misidentified members of Congress. (Amazon, maker of the technology the ACLU analyzed, disputed the organization’s findings.)

San Francisco was the first U.S. city to ban the use of facial recognition by its agencies. It was followed by Somerville, Massachusetts, and Oakland. Emeryville is also considering such a measure.

“We’re very grateful to

Councilmember Harrison for her leadership on this issue, and to the city council for their unanimous support,” said Brian Hofer, executive director of Secure Justice, who has helped draft the measures in the Bay Area cities that have adopted them so far. “Dangerous face surveillance technology is incompatible with a healthy democracy.”

Last week, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law a bill that prohibits the use of facial recognition on police body cams. AB 1215, written by Assemblyman Phil Ting, D-San Francisco, puts a threeyear moratorium on the technology.

Think tanks such as the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation oppose prohibiting the use of facial recognition, saying it could hinder innovation and prevent law enforcement from using technology that can help public safety.