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Important surveillance news:
Massachusetts is on the verge of passing the best statewide rules in the nation limiting face recognition surveillance. Hereâs how misinterpretations of the facts of the bill are holding up progress (1/X)
Massachusetts is on the verge of passing the best statewide rules in the nation limiting face recognition surveillance. Hereâs how misinterpretations of the facts of the bill are holding up progress (1/X)
Last week, the MA legislature passed a police reform bill that includes groundbreaking limits on face recognition: Police can only get face recognition results 1) to investigate serious violent crimes, AND 2) after getting a warrant for the search (2/X)
This would be a big deal for civil rights and civil liberties. A number of cities have passed bans on face recognition, but no state law goes as far as the limits in the Massachusetts bill would. It would make MA the first state with a strong safeguards on face recognition (3/X)
@POGOBlog supports this, and we sent @MassGovernor a letter recommending he support this provision, highlighting that it puts in critical safeguards while still allowing some uses most critical to law enforcement (4/X) https://www.pogo.org/letter/2020/12/letter-in-support-of-face-recognition-safeguards/
But the substance of the bill was widely misreported
@TechCrunch @engadget @verge (top outlets for tech news) all inaccurately described the bill in headlines and ledes as a âbanâ on face recognition
That gives a very misleading impression about what the bill actually does (5/X)
@TechCrunch @engadget @verge (top outlets for tech news) all inaccurately described the bill in headlines and ledes as a âbanâ on face recognition
That gives a very misleading impression about what the bill actually does (5/X)
Calling this measure (warrant rule and serious crime limit) a âbanâ is no more accurate than saying the federal law bans the government from conducting wiretaps, or that the Supreme Court banned cellphone location tracking (6/X)
The misleading notion that it's a ban has now put the bill in danger
Gov Baker is currently opposing the face recognition provision. But the uses he cites as essential not to ban would be in fact be permitted under this billâs set of rules and limits (7/X)
https://d279m997dpfwgl.cloudfront.net/wp/2020/12/policing-amendment-letter.pdf
Gov Baker is currently opposing the face recognition provision. But the uses he cites as essential not to ban would be in fact be permitted under this billâs set of rules and limits (7/X)
https://d279m997dpfwgl.cloudfront.net/wp/2020/12/policing-amendment-letter.pdf
And reporters covering the debate are still improperly labeling the face recognition provision as a ban/moratorium
This gives Baker a pass on explaining what harms he's really worried it will cause, because it won't prevent the uses he's highlighting (8/X) https://twitter.com/NikDeCostaKlipa/status/1337428614007173120
This gives Baker a pass on explaining what harms he's really worried it will cause, because it won't prevent the uses he's highlighting (8/X) https://twitter.com/NikDeCostaKlipa/status/1337428614007173120
We can have a debate on whether face recognition should have strong safeguards like warrants & serious crime limits ( @ConPro has long supported them: https://www.pogo.org/report/2019/03/facing-the-future-of-surveillance/)
But we need to engage on the substance, and not let Baker exaggerate what this bill actually does (9/X)
But we need to engage on the substance, and not let Baker exaggerate what this bill actually does (9/X)
If you want to help get this important measure passed into law and start building up safeguards we need on face recognition surveillance, you can use this action page to reach out to lawmakers (10/10, END)
https://action.aclu.org/send-message/tell-lawmakers-reject-bakers-amendments-re-enact-original-policing-bill?ms_aff=MA&initms_aff=MA&ms_chan=ptp&initms_chan=ptp
https://action.aclu.org/send-message/tell-lawmakers-reject-bakers-amendments-re-enact-original-policing-bill?ms_aff=MA&initms_aff=MA&ms_chan=ptp&initms_chan=ptp
