The use of facial recognition technology for capturing criminals has been in hot debate as many people don’t trust the authorities with surveillance technology. In the latest news, the city of Portland, ME, has voted to ban the use of facial recognition technology by the government.
The Activist Post reported that Portland City Council unanimously voted in favor of the ban on facial recognition technology. The legislation against the use of technology says:
No city official or employee shall obtain, retain, access, or use any facial recognition technology or information provided by any facial recognition technology.
According to the story, the use of facial recognition program was rolled out by the FBI in 2014. A number of cities have banned its use by the police since then with Portland, OR, and New York City still considering such a ban.
Aside from the concerns of abuse by the authorities, the technology is also reported to lack accuracy in operation.
During a test run by the ACLU of Northern California, facial recognition misidentified 26 members of the California legislature as people in a database of arrest photos.
Meanwhile in parts of the world, facial recognition technology is being used already in public places. In Singapore, for example, the technology is now being used at the Universal Studios theme park. South China Morning Post says that visitors will now have to pass through facial recognition scanners to enter the park.
