California is challenging the majority of the United States of America, other than Oregon and New Hampshire, with the new bill “AB 1215–Body Camera Accountability Act,” which temporarily prevents law enforcement from using body cameras with facial-recognition software installed. This 3-year bill does not account for stationary cameras.
California introduced this bill with hopes of limiting stereotyping and bias built into the systems controlling facial recognition technology, as women and people of color are often inaccurately recognized. Privacy concerns are also being considered.
The opposition is not coming from the body camera manufacturer Axon, as expected for financial reasons, but rather from the sheriffs’ departments in surrounding areas.
Was facial recognition technology not created to assist in minimizing crime or the maximizing efficiency of determining violators of crime? How is this step backward in technological usage impacting society? Will the California government change legislation about stationary camera’s facial recognition next? How will crime rates fluctuate, or will they? Will the FBI have to be spread thinner across the continental United States? Will the time taken to solve a crime increase, and if so, is protecting from bias in a computer system worth it? Cory Salzillo responds: “Even a temporary ban on the use of facial recognition could limit law enforcement’s efficacy and limit its ability to fight crime and prevent crime.” Shouldn’t law enforcement be relying on both their reasoning and technology instead of the assumed technology alone? These are all questions that citizens of California, Oregon, and New Hampshire should be asking themselves, for the safety of their communities.
The possibility of this bill transitioning to other states or the whole country might become reality, but not expected to in the next five years.
Metz, Rachel. “California Lawmakers Ban Facial-Recognition Software from Police Body Cams.” CNN, Cable News Network, 13 Sept. 2019, https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/12/tech/california-body-cam-facial-recognition-ban/index.html.