Baltimore could enact nation's strictest facial recognition ban

The Baltimore City Council Public Safety and Government Operations Committee on Wednesday passed an ordinance that would not only ban law enforcement and other agencies from purchasing and using facial recognition systems but would even bar the use of such technology by private citizens in the city.

Under Council Bill 21-0001, residents would be prohibited from “obtaining, retaining, accessing, or using certain face surveillance technology or any information obtained from certain face surveillance technology.”

The ordinance does provide an exemption for biometric access control systems.

While various cities across the nation have passed laws prohibiting police and other government agencies from procuring or using facial recognition systems in recent years, only Portland, Ore., has sought to ban private use of the technology by businesses. However, Baltimore’s ordinance would be the first to criminalize consumer use of such systems.

In a joint letter, the Security Industry Association (SIA), the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) and XR Association, urged the committee not to pass the measure and also noted a number of different commercial and consumer applications that would be impacted by its passage, including:

• Increased and customized accessibility for disabled persons
• Devices that assist people suffering from blindness, memory loss or prosopagnosia (face blindness) with recognizing friends and others
• Emergency systems to determine building occupant status following an evacuation order during a fire or other life-threatening event
• Healthcare facilities to verify patient identities while reducing the need for close proximity interpersonal interactions
• COVID-19 mitigation applications for business operations, allowing users to verify identities for vaccine validation, test results and other information
• In-home electronic devices with facial recognition, like smart baby monitors
• Customization of heating, lighting, sound and other room features based on building occupant preference/needs
• Online test proctoring software
• Banks to enhance consumer security to verify purchases and access ATMs
• Remote online identity document verification, such as those used for online sellers or gig economy workers
• Automobiles to unlock doors, start motors and adjust seats, mirrors and climate control systems
• Hotels to recognize loyal customers, speed check-in and unlock rooms
• Retailers to speed checkout lines with contactless payment
• Venues to permit faster, more efficient and more hygienic ticketless access to concerts and other events and to prevent ticket fraud

“Baltimore leaders should seize the opportunity to support a balanced, common sense policy for the use of facial recognition that safeguards access to innovative services for city residents and serves as a model policy for other local jurisdictions. Unfortunately, an outright ban on facial recognition continues a distressing pattern in which the clear value of this technology is ignored. In such cases, it is local businesses and residents who stand to lose the most,” SIA CEO Don Erickson said in a statement. “SIA remains a willing participant in any genuine discussion that could lead to more rational policymaking.”

In response to the ordinance’s passage by the committee, ITIF Vice President Daniel Castro issued a statement criticizing the extreme restrictive nature of the proposed law.

“As drafted, the proposed ordinance is shockingly out of line with the current state of facial recognition technology and its growing adoption in many sectors of the economy. If Baltimore proceeds with this proposal, it will develop a reputation as a city openly hostile to technological innovation,” he said.

The joint letter also follows a request to President Biden earlier this week from the airline, travel, security and biometrics sectors, as well as the U.S. business community, urging rejection of a ban approach and  adoption of policy recommendations for additional research, development, testing and government accountability measures.