Facial recognition tech is a bit iffy in the sense that while it might be useful and quite amazing in terms of it being a technological feat, there are privacy concerns surrounding it. After all, why would anyone want to be continuously recognized by computers while walking out on the street, right?So much so that last month, the city of San Francisco mulled the idea of possibly banning the use of facial recognition tech, and now it looks like that ban has since been approved. The city, despite it being known as one of the more tech-friendly and tech-savvy cities in the world, has decided that they will be banning the use of the technology in public spaces.
Once the new rule goes into effect (it’s expected to go into effect in about a month’s time), it will ban the use of facial recognition tech by the city’s 53 departments, including the San Francisco Police Department. According to San Francisco Supervisor Aaron Peskin, “We all support good policing but none of us want to live in a police state.”
That being said, this does not mean that the tech is dead. Businesses or residents who wish to continue to employ the use of the tech for private use, such as using it for their own home surveillance systems, are more than welcome to do so. Peskin adds, “I think San Francisco has a responsibility to speak up on things that are affecting the entire globe, that are happening in our front yard.”
Filed in . Read more about Legal and Privacy. Source: edition.cnn