Washington State County Becomes First in US to Ban Facial Recognition Software Over Concerns of Racism
On 6/2/21 at 11:33 AM EDT
King County in Washington is the first U.S. county to ban government use of facial recognition software over concerns of racism and demographic biases.
A groundbreaking proposal for the ban was approved Tuesday by the King County Council to protect the county s 2.3 million citizens freedoms from government surveillance since studies revealed facial recognition software is often far more likely to misidentify Black or Asian faces, especially Black women, the council announced in a statement. The use of this technology is invasive, intrusive, racially biased and full of risks to fundamental civil liberties, said King County Councilmember Dave Upthegrove. I am proud to sponsor this ban, which is supported by local community groups, public defenders, immigrants rights advocates, racial justice organizations, workers rights groups, privacy advocate
by Matt Baume • May 6, 2021 at 1:40 pm
Facial recognition software once told me my closest celebrity match was the face you see when you look at an electrical outlet, so yes I m skeptical filadendron / getty Images
King County officials are considering a law that would prevent law enforcement from gobbling up pictures of your face, storing it in a giant database, and using facial recognition software to identify suspects in part because facial recognition technology is faulty and racist, but also because council members find the whole thing super-duper creepy.
“I’m getting more and more concerned about infringements on my privacy,” said King County Councilmember Jeanne Kohl-Welles when reached for comment. “Going to a store, and there are cameras, and they have tapes of our faces and who knows what they use it for.”
King County to reexamine decades-old bicyclist helmet law
The move by the King County Board of Health comes after a Crosscut report showing disproportionate enforcement toward homeless people.
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Cyclists bike past the Paramount Theatre, an arts venue in Seattle, on Sept. 30, 2020. (Jovelle Tamayo for Crosscut)
The King County Board of Health will reexamine its nearly 30-year-old law requiring bicyclists to wear helmets, raising the possibility that the rule could be repealed in the face of new evidence that it isn’t enforced equitably.
Members of the board, made up of both county and city officials, voted Thursday to add reconsideration of the 1993 law to its 2021 work plan. Board member and King County Councilmember Jeanne Kohl-Welles, who brought the amendment forward, said she was not presupposing that the law be rolled back, but wanted to look more deeply at the data around its enforcement. While she has supported the law in the past, she said apparent disparities in