The Biometrics Institute is asking law enforcement, border control, and other government agencies to exhibit good behavior when deploying biometric technology, warning that it may be regulated for them if they use it irresponsibly and go on to lose public trust. “It is vital that anyone using biometrics to identify individuals follows responsible and ethical…
Apple’s introduction of the face-scanning Face ID system in 2017’s iPhone X went a long way in helping to make facial recognition for authentication a mainstream technology among consumers. But it was Amazon that really made facial recognition for large-scale public identification explode into the national discourse as an ethical issue, after an ACLU report…
“The IBIA is not alone in taking issue with the ban; after the legislation passed its Board vote, an advocacy group called Stop Crime SF issued a statement insisting that the ban could have been a moratorium, since facial recognition technology shows considerable potential as a crime-fighting tool. “ The International Biometrics + Identity Association…
City officials in San Francisco have approved a proposed ban on the city’s use of facial recognition, clearing the way for it to become law. First proposed at the end of January, the legislation is designed to prohibit the use of facial recognition-based surveillance technology by city departments, and requires them to seek approval from…
“The legislation not only bans the live use of facial recognition through police body camera feeds, but also bans the application of this technology to any data collected through such cameras.” The California Assembly has voted in favor of a piece of legislation – Assembly Bill 1215 – aimed at banning the use of facial…
The city of Oakland’s Privacy Commission has approved a proposal to ban the municipal government’s use of facial recognition. As CBS’s local news station reports, the proposed legislation still has a long way to go before it can take effect. It will need to be approved by the Public Safety Committee, and then by the…
Chicago-based law firm Hahn Loeser & Parks has opened a new Biometric Privacy Practice Group aimed at supporting clients fighting claims under the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act. It’s the latest sign of what may be a growing niche in the state’s legal field, after a landmark Illinois Supreme Court ruling in January that clearly…
The Japanese government has formally announced a plan this week to fight gambling addiction that include the use of biometric technology. The aim is to have operators of gambling facilities use facial recognition technology to automatically identify gambling addicts and restrict entry. Individuals’ faces would be added to such automated watch lists by request, either…
Shook, Hardy, and Bacon has added two biometrics specialists to its corporate litigation team in Illinois. The law office has announced that attorneys Melissa Siebert (a new Partner) and Erin Bolan Hines (Of Counsel) will be handling complex biometrics lawsuits as members of the firm’s Business Litigation, Employment and Privacy and Data Security Practices department.…
Amazon is now calling for government regulation of facial recognition technology, even as it defends sales of its own such technology to law enforcement authorities. In a new post on the Amazon Web Services Machine Learning blog, the company’s VP of Global Public Policy, Michael Punke, writes, “We support the calls for an appropriate national…
The heart of Silicon Valley could become the first place where AI-driven facial recognition technology is banned, if proposed legislation is put into place. The proposition comes from San Francisco Board of Supervisors member Aaron Peskin. It would implement new requirements for police to obtain approval from the city’s Board of Supervisors before purchasing new…
An agreement to facilitate the sharing of biometric data between police authorities in Japan and the US has taken effect, The Japan Times reports. The deal concerns Japan’s National Policy Agency and America’s FBI and Department of Homeland Security. The countries first came to the agreement in 2014. While there were already previous agreements in…
The Illinois Supreme Court has issued its ruling on a pivotal case concerning the state’s biometric privacy law, with a unanimous decision upholding its broad scope. The case, Rosenbach v. Six Flags, was brought forward by the mother whose son was, at the age of 14, fingerprinted at the Six Flags amusement park as part…
“Even if government authorities can’t make Aadhaar authentication mandatory, they can still accept it from citizens who prefer to use it.” Just a few months after a Supreme Court ruling laid out restrictions to how India’s national biometric ID program can be used, the national government has amended legislation governing the Aadhaar program to make…
A lawsuit against Google based on the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act, or BIPA, has been dismissed by a district court judge – but that doesn’t mean the case is closed for good. The case was launched in 2016 by a woman who unwittingly had her imaged captured by a Google Photos user in 11…
“…the legislation will offer citizens a six-month window in which they can choose to opt out of the Aadhaar program, with their iris and fingerprint data deleted from the Aadhaar database.” The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) is preparing legislation that will allow citizens to withdraw from Aadhaar, India’s biometric national ID program. According…
A case that could ultimately defang Illinois’ biometric privacy law is now underway before the state’s Supreme Court. It revolves around the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act, or BIPA, a law passed back in 2008 that essentially requires organizations to obtain informed consent from individuals before collecting their biometric data. The biometric revolution in consumer…
The head of London’s Metropolitan Police Service is decrying the “complex regulatory system” in place over how law enforcement authorities in the UK can use facial recognition technology. Speaking to The Guardian after a week that saw five murders over the course of six days in the city, Met Police commissioner Cressida Dick said, “We…
Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) has a potentially powerful new defender in the state’s newly-elected Attorney General, Kwame Raoul. The law, passed a decade ago, is aimed at protecting citizens’ privacy rights with respect to their biometric data, with a central component being a requirement that any companies collecting such data obtain clear consent.…