Oakland, California just became the third U.S. city to ban the use of facial recognition in public spaces.
A city ordinance passed Tuesday night which prohibits the city of Oakland from “acquiring, obtaining, retaining, requesting, or accessing” facial recognition technology, which it defines as “an automated or semi-automated process that assists in identifying or verifying an individual based on an individual’s face.”
The ordinance amends a 2018 law which requires any city staff member to get approval from the chair of Oakland’s Privacy Advisory Commission before “seeking or soliciting funds” for surveillance technology. State and federal funding for surveillance technology must also be approved by the chair, per the ordinance.
