Portland becomes first city to ban companies from using facial recognition software in public
Portland's City Council took a groundbreaking step against facial recognition software last week, banning both the public and private use of the technology with two new ordinances.
The ban will take effect in January 2021 and will levy $1,000-per-day fines against people who violate it. The rules were passed unanimously by the city council, which received hundreds of messages and testimonies criticizing stores for starting to use facial recognition tools against alleged shoplifters.
San Francisco, Boston, and Oakland have all passed their own bans restricting government entities from using facial recognition software but Portland's ban became the first in the country to prohibit corporations from using facial recognition in "places of public accommodation." "All Portlanders are entitled to a city government that will not use technology with demonstrated racial and gender biases that endanger personal privacy," Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler said during last Wednesday's City Council meeting.
