Portland's Face-Recognition Ban Is a New Twist on 'Smart Cities'

Portland's 2016 entry for a $50 million federal contest called the Smart City Challenge described a Pacific Northwest tech-topia. It promised autonomous shuttles, trucks, and cars on city streets, through partnerships with Daimler and Lyft. Sensors from Alphabet's Sidewalk Labs would monitor people walking and biking around the city to analyze traffic patterns. The Rose City didn't win, and four years later there are no self-driving Lyfts on its streets. One thing that has changed: Portland's conception of what makes a city smart. This month, Portland adopted the nation's most restrictive laws on face recognition, banning private as well as government use of the technology.