Baltimore May Soon Ban Face Recognition for Everyone but Cops

After years of failed attempts to curb surveillance technologies, Baltimore is close to enacting one of the nation's most stringent bans on facial recognition. But Baltimore's proposed ban would be very different from laws in San Francisco or Portland, Oregon: It would last for only one year, police would be exempt, and certain private uses of the tech would become illegal. City councilmember Kristerfer Burnett, who introduced the proposed ban, says it was shaped by the nuances of Baltimore, though critics complain it could unfairly penalize, or even jail, private citizens who use the tech. Last year, Burnett introduced a version of the bill that would have banned city use of facial recognition permanently. When that failed, he instead introduced this version, with a built-in one year "sunset" clause requiring council approval to be extended.