{"id":25742,"date":"2019-06-29T10:53:35","date_gmt":"2019-06-29T09:53:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newsforher.com\/?p=25742"},"modified":"2019-06-29T10:53:38","modified_gmt":"2019-06-29T09:53:38","slug":"second-u-s-city-passes-ban-on-facial-recognition-tech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsforher.com\/?p=25742","title":{"rendered":"Second U.S. city passes ban on facial recognition tech"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<!-- Quick Adsense WordPress Plugin: http:\/\/quickadsense.com\/ -->\n<div class=\"c5b541d88d911dcbb84397def1a3492d\" data-index=\"1\" style=\"float: none; margin:0px 0 0px 0; text-align:center;\">\n<script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- m -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3943282228430444\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"5751019935\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\n<\/div>\n<p> [ad_1]\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"id_text\" itemprop=\"articleBody\">\n<p>A second U.S. city is banning its municipal government from ever using <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/commentary\/362807\/facial-recognition-should-we-fear-it-or-embrace-it\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">facial recognition<\/a> technologies over fears it&#8217;ll pave the way for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/news\/364812\/chinese-authorities-can-id-you-from-your-walk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">mass surveillance<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>On Thursday, the city council of Somerville, Massachusetts voted 11-0 to pass the anti-facial recognition ordinance, which calls out the technology for its potential to &#8220;chill&#8221; protected free speech.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The broad application of face surveillance in public spaces is the functional equivalent of requiring every person to carry and display a personal photo identification card at all times,&#8221; reads the <a href=\"http:\/\/somervillecityma.iqm2.com\/Citizens\/Detail_LegiFile.aspx?ID=20991&amp;highlightTerms=facial%20recognition%20technology\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ordinance<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The ordinance also points to how facial recognition technologies can <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/news\/368583\/31-percent-of-people-dont-trust-facial-recognition-tech\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">misidentify<\/a> people, particularly women and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/news\/366204\/study-finds-racial-bias-in-amazons-facial-recognition-tech\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">non-whites<\/a>. The ordinance adds that &#8220;many of the databases to which face surveillance technology is applied are plagued by racial and other biases, which generate copycat biases in face surveillance data.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>City councilor Ben Ewen-Campen said he proposed the ordinance amid growing public concerns over how new technologies will impact society. &#8220;There&#8217;s just an onslaught of privacy invasions, and there&#8217;s just this sense that it&#8217;s increasingly difficult to just be free in society as individuals and as families,&#8221; he said during yesterday&#8217;s vote.<\/p>\n<!-- Quick Adsense WordPress Plugin: http:\/\/quickadsense.com\/ -->\n<div class=\"c5b541d88d911dcbb84397def1a3492d\" data-index=\"2\" style=\"float: none; margin:0px 0 0px 0; text-align:center;\">\n<script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- 2 -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3943282228430444\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"5511153269\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\n<\/div>\n\n<p>&#8220;This is just a small step, but this is reminder: We are in charge of our society,&#8221; he added. &#8220;We don&#8217;t have to just sit back and take it.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The city is joining San Francisco, which last month also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/news\/368377\/san-francisco-imposes-facial-recognition-ban\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">outlawed<\/a> facial recognition technologies for local government use. Somerville&#8217;s ordinance prohibits any city agency or official from using and retaining &#8220;face surveillance&#8221; technology, which it defines as being able to automatically detect someone&#8217;s identity based on their face. If the ordinance is violated, the city could be taken to court and potentially face damages. Somerville is home to about 81,000 people.<\/p>\n<p>The American Civil Liberties Union is hoping more cities and states pass similar laws to regulate the technology. However, companies including Amazon <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/news\/366417\/amazon-we-support-facial-recognition-tech-regulations\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">continue to develop<\/a> facial recognition systems for government use, arguing the technology can help law enforcement stop crime and find missing people.<\/p>\n<p>On the Somerville ordinance, ACLU director Kade Crockford said: &#8220;The city is sending a bold statement that it won&#8217;t sit by idly while the dystopian technology further outpaces our civil liberties protections and harms privacy, racial and gender justice, and freedom of speech.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div class=\"bonus-video-card\">\n<h2 class=\"title\"><a href=\"https:\/\/mashable.com\/video\/robotic-strawberry-harvesters-pick-fresh-produce?utm_cid=a-bonusvideo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">WATCH: Meet the robotic strawberry harvesters that are picking fresh produce \u2014 Strictly Robots<\/a><\/h2>\n<div class=\"jw-wrapper\">\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" allowfullscreen=\"\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/mashable.com\/videos\/embed?video=MVlQJXP5oN&amp;player=default\" width=\"640\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<!-- Quick Adsense WordPress Plugin: http:\/\/quickadsense.com\/ -->\n<div class=\"c5b541d88d911dcbb84397def1a3492d\" data-index=\"5\" style=\"float: none; margin:0px 0 0px 0; text-align:center;\">\n<script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- 5 -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3943282228430444\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"9258826580\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\n<\/div>\n[ad_2]\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/me.mashable.com\/tech\/5821\/second-us-city-passes-ban-on-facial-recognition-tech\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n\n<!-- Quick Adsense WordPress Plugin: http:\/\/quickadsense.com\/ -->\n<div class=\"c5b541d88d911dcbb84397def1a3492d\" data-index=\"3\" style=\"float: none; margin:0px 0 0px 0; text-align:center;\">\n<script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- 3 -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3943282228430444\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"2884989920\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\n<\/div>\n\n<div style=\"font-size: 0px; height: 0px; line-height: 0px; margin: 0; padding: 0; clear: both;\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[ad_1] A second U.S. city is banning its municipal government from ever using facial recognition technologies over fears it&#8217;ll pave the way for mass surveillance. On Thursday, the city council of Somerville, Massachusetts voted 11-0 to pass the anti-facial recognition ordinance, which calls out the technology for its potential to &#8220;chill&#8221; protected free speech. &#8220;The &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25743,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[9],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsforher.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25742"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsforher.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsforher.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsforher.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsforher.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=25742"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newsforher.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25742\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25744,"href":"https:\/\/newsforher.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25742\/revisions\/25744"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsforher.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/25743"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsforher.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=25742"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsforher.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=25742"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsforher.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=25742"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}