USA Today by Marco della Cava 6/16/2019
A routine traffic stop goes dangerously awry when a police officer’s body camera uses its built-in facial recognition software to misidentify a motorist as a convicted felon.
Guns are drawn. Nerves fray. At best, lawsuits are launched. At worst, tragedy strikes.
That imaginary scenario is what some California lawmakers are trying to avoid by supporting Assembly Bill 1215, the Body Camera Accountability Act, which would ban the use of facial recognition software in police body cams - a national first if it passes a Senate vote later this summer and is signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom.
State law enforcement officials here do not currently employ the technology to scan those in the line of sight of officers. But some police officials oppose the bill on the grounds that a valuable tool could be lost.
The tug of war over high-tech surveillance methods comes in the wake of this tech hub’s City Council banning all forms of facial recognition software last month. Oakland and Berkeley council members currently are considering similar bans.
More:
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/06/16/california-could-limit-how-police-use-facial-recognition-technology/1456448001/
