Minneapolis prohibits use of facial recognition software by its police department
The Minneapolis City Council voted unanimously on Friday to approve an ordinance banning the use of facial recognition software by its police department and other city agencies, the Star Tribune reported. The ban adds Minneapolis to the list of US cities moving to limit or end the use of such technology by its law enforcement officers and city employees.
But Minneapolis police chief Medaria Arradondo said in a statement that the ban was created without feedback from him, and that he believes it’s possible for facial recognition technology to be “utilized in accordance with data privacy and other citizen legal protections,” according to the Star Tribune. Facial recognition software has been found to have age, race, and ethnic biases, and privacy advocates have raised concerns about its use by law enforcement. Minneapolis’ ordinance created an appeals process allowing city agencies to request exemptions under some circumstances.
Minneapolis was the site of huge public protests last summer after one of its police officers killed George Floyd during an arrest in May. The city council voted to disband its police department last June, but ended up reducing the department’s 2021 budget by less than 5 percent.
Software made by Clearview AI —the controversial firm that has a database of some 3 billion images scraped from social media and other websites— would be included under Minneapolis’ facial recognition ban. BuzzFeed News reported last year that Minneapolis was one of the police departments that had access to Clearview’s software. Clearview also has contracts with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Department of Homeland Security.
Other cities have also implemented bans on facial recognition software, with Portland blocking both public and private use of the technology. Boston, San Francisco, and Oakland have also passed laws prohibiting public institutions from using facial recognition, but Portland was the first to prohibit private use.
The Minneapolis City Council voted unanimously on Friday to approve an ordinance banning the use of facial recognition software by its police department and other city agencies, the Star Tribune reported. The ban adds Minneapolis to the list of US cities moving to limit or end the use of such…
Recent Posts
- 30TB hard drives will finally become mainstream next year — Japanese rival to Seagate and Western Digital reveals plans to launch two 30TB+ HDDs in 2025 using two different technologies
- Quordle today – hints and answers for Sunday, May 19 (game #846)
- Blue Origin’s first crewed launch since 2022: Where to watch
- This modder proves everything’s better with a GBA SP screen attached
- Mobile industry is quietly preparing for the biggest change to your smartphone in a decade — iSIM will hasten the end of SIM cards and allow networks to preload plans on devices
Archives
- May 2024
- April 2024
- March 2024
- February 2024
- January 2024
- December 2023
- November 2023
- October 2023
- September 2023
- August 2023
- July 2023
- June 2023
- May 2023
- April 2023
- March 2023
- February 2023
- January 2023
- December 2022
- November 2022
- October 2022
- September 2022
- August 2022
- July 2022
- June 2022
- May 2022
- April 2022
- March 2022
- February 2022
- January 2022
- December 2021
- November 2021
- October 2021
- September 2021
- August 2021
- July 2021
- June 2021
- May 2021
- April 2021
- March 2021
- February 2021
- January 2021
- December 2020
- November 2020
- October 2020
- September 2020
- August 2020
- July 2020
- June 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- March 2020
- February 2020
- January 2020
- December 2019
- November 2019
- December 2011