Boston would become the largest U.S. city east of San Francisco to ban the use of facial-recognition technology by any city agency if a local law proposed by two city councilors is adopted. "It would mean that the Boston city government, including Boston police and any other department, could not use any state surveillance system," City Councilor-at-Large Michelle Wu said at a press briefing before a hearing that drew more than 100 people to weigh in on the proposal. "To be clear, Boston police already … have said that they do not use it today." The ban would prevent any city agency from using face surveillance software and ensure that people are not subject to unregulated, mass surveillance in public spaces, such as at protests like the ones that have roiled Boston and other cities since last month's killing of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, at the hands of a white Minneapolis police officer. The technology some police departments use when looking for suspects furthers racial inequity by identifying people of color at a higher rate, City Councilor Ricardo Arroyo said.