Three men falsely arrested based on face recognition technology have joined the fight against a California bill that aims to place guardrails around police use of the technology. They say it will still allow abuses and misguided arrests.
California's Legislature is considering making it illegal for police to use facial recognition technology as the sole justification for a search or arrest. Critics say it won't stop wrongful arrests.LAist is facing a budget shortfall, but our mission to provide fact-based journalism is stronger than ever. We cannot do this important work without your member support today.
Because prosecutors use face recognition to identify possible suspects but ultimately rely on eyewitness testimony, the technology can play a role in a criminal investigation but remain hidden from the accused and defense attorneys. “I got lucky,” he told CalMatters in a phone interview about a receipt that exonerated him and kept him out of prison. “I don’t want to see anybody sitting in jail for something they didn’t do.”
Face recognition alone should never lead to false arrests, Jake Parker with the Security Industry Association told members of the California Assembly a few weeks ago. That’s why AB 1814 is meant to corroborate investigative leads with evidence, not just a possible face recognition match. “By allowing police to scan and identify people without limitation, AB 1814 will also increase unnecessary police interactions that too often have the potential to escalate into fatal encounters. This will remain true regardless of how accurate face recognition technology becomes,” the organizations said in a letter. “There is no way for people to find out if facial recognition is used against them and no mechanism to make sure the police comply with the law.
“We absolutely need a legislative, regulatory framework for these technologies, but I don’t think AB 1814 is adequate in terms of protecting civil liberties or providing meaningful guardrails or safeguards for the use of these new and powerful technologies,” said Boudin, who now directs UC Berkeley’s Criminal Law & Justice Center.
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