Portland City Council Votes to Ban Facial Recognition

September 10, 2020

The Portland City Council has passed two ordinances banning the use of facial recognition. One ordinance prohibits the city from using facial recognition. A second ordinance prohibits private companies from using facial recognition in public spaces. The ordinances note the technologies demonstrated "biases against Black people, women, and older people." Portland joins a growing list of cities that have banned the facial recognition technology, including Boston, Oakland, and San Francisco. EPIC has launched a campaign to Ban Face Surveillance and through the Public Voice coalition gathered the support of over 100 organizations and many leading experts across 30 plus countries. Earlier this year, an EPIC-led coalition called on the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board to recommend the suspension of face surveillance systems across the federal government.

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