A couple big wins for skeptics of government use of facial recognition

In a surprise to some, elected officials in Colorado and New Orleans are telling proponents of face biometrics that personal privacy can outbalance the need by law enforcement and other government agencies to use facial recognition systems. In Colorado, the governor has signed into law new rules restricting the use of facial recognition by agencies and state institutions of higher learning. Meanwhile, the New Orleans City Council shut down a request from the municipality's superintendent of police to give officers access to facial recognition software. The Colorado law, SB 113, forces leaders of the organizations described to get permission to "develop, procure, use or continue to sue facial recognition service," according to the National Law Review. Using its "reporting authority," presumably to the state legislature, the agency or school must report the name of the vendor and the capacities of the system that would be used. The type of data to be collected, how it will be collected and processed as well as the purpose and benefits of the data collection must be revealed.