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Topics Pages - Biometrics - Facial Recognition

Canada

Guidance

• Joint Privacy Commissioners – Draft privacy guidance on facial recognition for police agencies

Privacy Commissioner Findings

• Joint (Federal, Alberta, BC, Quebec): Joint investigation of Clearview AI
• Federal – Report of findings: Investigation into the RCMP’s collection of personal information from Clearview AI
• Joint (Federal, Alberta, BC): Joint investigation of Cadillac Fairview

United States

Local Bans or Restrictions (United States)

• US Cities:
  • Ban: Alameda, CA; Baltimore, MD (moratorium until December 31, 2022; can be extended to 2027); Berkeley, CA; Boston, MA; Brookline, MA; Cambridge, MA; Jackson, MS; King County, WA; Minneapolis, MN; New Orleans, LA; Northampton, MA; Oakland, CA; Portland, ME; Portland, OR; San Francisco, CA; Somerville, MA; Springfield, MA
  • With humanitarian exceptions: Madison, WI (exceptions for human trafficking; child sexual exploitation; missing persons)
  • Use requires approval from city, with defined information to be provided: Pittsburgh, PA
• US States:
  • California: AB 1215 (moratorium against law enforcement use of FRT and biometric surveillance until January 1, 2023) (local copy)
  • Maine: LD 1585 (regulation on government and law enforcement use of FRT) (local copy)
  • Massachusetts: General Laws c.6 §220 (FRT requires court order, except in case of emergency or identification of deceased individual; requires transparency reporting) (local copy)
  • New York: S5410B (moratorium against use of FRT in schools until July 1, 2022) (local copy)
  • Vermont: 124 (Section 14 - moratorium on use of FRT by law enforcement until authorized by General Assembly) (local copy)
    • 195 (amendment to permit FRT use in child sexual exploitation cases) (local copy)
  • Virginia: HB2031 (ban on law enforcement use of FRT, unless expressly authorized by General Assembly) (local copy)

EU/UK

Guidance/Opinions

• European Parliament: Artificial intelligence in criminal law and its use by the police and judicial authorities in criminal matters (calls for moratorium on FRT in law enforcement until appropriate frameworks are developed; call for ban on use of private facial recognition databases in law enforcement)
  • European Parliamentary Research Service: Regulating facial recognition in the EU (in-depth analysis)
• EDPB/EDPS: Joint Opinion 5/2021 (calling for a ban on use of AI for automated recognition of human features in publicly accessible spaces)
• EU Agency for Fundamental Rights: Facial recognition technology: fundamental rights considerations in the context of law enforcement
• United Kingdom Information Commissioner’s Office: The use of live facial recognition technologies by law enforcement in public places
• United Kingdom Information Commissioner’s Office: The use of live facial recognition technologies in public places
• UK ICO / Surveillance Camera Commissioner: Data protection impact assessments for surveillance cameras

Decisions

• Sweden: Decision DI-2019-2221 – Facial recognition use to monitor the attendance of students (200,000 SEK fine)

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Last updated: October 19, 2021