Minneapolis Bans Facial Recognition To Dismay Of City Police
(Smart Cities Dive, Feb 17, 2021)
The Minneapolis City Council voted unanimously on Friday to prohibit the procurement of facial recognition technology and the use of any related data by city departments. The surveillance ordinance (2020-00681) amends Title 2, Chapter 41 of the Minneapolis Code of Ordinances. The ordinance was one of 14 items advanced by the city's Policy & Government Oversight Committee per a Feb. 10 committee report to the city council. A public comment period for the ordinance attracted 31 letters of support. The council passed the ordinance and its fellow report items without discussion.
Civil Rights Coalition Pressures EU To Ban Biometric Surveillance
(E And T, Feb 17, 2021)
Surveillance tools such as facial recognition systems have raised concerns about risks to privacy and fundamental rights and that they could be exploited by repressive regimes to commit human rights violations. The EU executive plans to announce a legislative proposal on AI in the first quarter of the year. It is expected to cover high-risk sectors such as healthcare, energy, transport, and parts of the public sector. The group, made up of the Civil Liberties Union for Europe, Reclaim Your Face, European Digital Rights, Privacy International, and around 26 other organisations, warned of the dangers of biometric data captured through CCTV cameras and facial recognition technology.
U.S. Expands Facial Recognition To Preclearance Locations In Canada
(Travel Off Path, Feb 17, 2021)
The U.S Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced the expansion of ‘Simplified Arrival’ for eight pre-clearance locations throughout Canada. The ‘Simplified Arrival’ program is used by the CBP to automate the document checking process, currently done manually, which is required for admission to the U.S. U.S. entry Pearson International Airport In addition to automating the process, the CBP notes that the process enables a ‘touchless’ experience, which is a pivotal benefit during the ongoing pandemic. Speaking on the announcement, CBP Director of Preclearance Operations, Clint Lamm stated:
New Police Reform Law Off To Slow Start As Massachusetts Lawmakers, Charlie Baker Blow Past First Major Deadline In Rollout
(Boston Herald, Feb 17, 2021)
A landmark police reform law passed in December is already stumbling in the State House after lawmakers and Gov. Charlie Baker this week blew past the first major deadline in the rollout. Dorchester equality activist James Mackey accused lawmakers of getting “too comfortable in their seats” for botching the start. “People advocated, they rallied, they screamed and yelled, they marched for them to pass this and now it’s about accountability,” Mackey said. “Now its up to us to hold these legislators accountable knowing that they haven’t held their end of the bargain.” A special legislative commission on law enforcement’s use of facial recognition technology was mandated to meet by Monday. But as of Tuesday morning, the commission’s 22 members had yet to be named.
Viewpoint: Regulate Facial Recognition Tool, Don't Outlaw It
(Times Union, Feb 17, 2021)
The Minneapolis City Council, joining Boston, Los Angeles, Portland, Oakland and other localities, has banned its police department from using facial recognition technology — which would mean, when witnesses or security cameras there capture people red-handed, cops can no longer run those images through computer softwar
AI Will Soon Use Your Veins To Identify You
(Tech and Geek, Feb 17, 2021)
Researchers think that Vein-scanning technology will be more secure than fingerprints, facial recognition, and other forms of biometric security. Biometric identification is becoming more and more common as time marches on. In airports and other public facilities, facial recognition technology has been used for a while now. Some researchers from Australia’s University of New South Wales say that biometrics have ‘well known weaknesses,’ and they are right.
New Virginia Privacy Bill
(JDSupra, Feb 17, 2021)
Any day now, Virginia will likely become the second state, behind California, to adopt a GDPR-inspired comprehensive data protection law for Virginia residents. What are the main points covered by Virginia’s Consumer Data Protection Act (“CDPA”)? Like Europe’s GDPR and California’s CCPA, the CDPA expands consumer rights to access, correct, delete, and obtain a copy of personal data provided to or collected by a company, and to opt out of processing of the personal data for purposes of targeted advertising, sale, or profiling of the personal data.
Google Wins Pause Of California Photo Dataset Lawsuit For Now
(Bloomberg Law, Feb 17, 2021)
Google LLC convinced a federal judge in California to pause a proposed class action brought by an internet user who claims the tech giant violated Illinois’ biometric information privacy act. Steven Vance’s lawsuit against Google must wait until a federal court in Illinois resolves his related claims against International Business Machines, Judge Beth Labson Freeman said Feb. 12 for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Steven Vance’s case against Google arises out of similar factual and legal circumstances as his Illinois Biometric Information Privacy case in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois,...
