Maine Now Has the Toughest Facial Recognition Restrictions in the U.S.

Maine has just passed the nation's toughest law restricting the use of facial recognition technology. LD 1585 was unanimously approved by the Maine House and Senate on June 16 and 17, respectively, and became law without the signature of Gov. Janet Mills. The bill's sponsor, Rep. Grayson Lookner, D-Portland, hopes that Maine's new law--which goes into effect Oct. 1--will "provide an example to other states that want to rein in the government's ability to use facial recognition and other invasive biometric technologies." The country's only other statewide law regulating facial recognition was passed in Washington in 2020, and it authorized state police to use facial recognition technology for "mass surveillance of people's public movements, habits, and associations." The Washington law--written by state Sen. and Microsoft employee Joe Nguyen-- was opposed by the ACLU.