Facial Recognition Commission Announces Recommendations to Provide Safeguards for Law Enforcement Use of Technology
Boston – State Representative Michael Day and State Senator Jamie Eldridge, co-chairs of the Special Commission to Study Government Use of Facial Recognition Technology in the Commonwealth (“Facial Recognition Commission”) announced today that the Facial Recognition Commission has completed its work on a final report to the Legislature. In the report, the Facial Recognition Commission makes several recommendations that, if adopted, would clarify law enforcement’s permissible use of facial recognition technology in Massachusetts and provide safeguards designed to protect the privacy interests of the general public.
Facial recognition is a biometric technology that uses distinguishable facial features to identify an individual. The scope and potential of facial recognition is profound and has proven utility in criminal investigations. However, the technology and its use also raise significant accuracy, privacy and due process concerns. Notably, several published studies find that face recognition systems misidentify women and people of color more frequently.
“I thank the Commissioners for their diverse expertise and the substantive contributions they brought to this Commission’s work,” said State Representative Michael Day (D-Stoneham). “This report makes clear and deliberate recommendations that account for the complexities of emerging facial recognition technology and its implications for individual privacy rights on one hand, and the proper role it can play in our criminal justice system on the other. If the Legislature adopts these recommendations, I believe it will strike the correct balance between those competing interests and will set appropriate guidelines for law enforcement’s use of this technology.”
“I would like to extend my gratitude to the commissioners for their dedication in providing safeguards for law enforcement use of technologies. Facial recognition and other biometric technologies are new tools with serious privacy, accuracy, and due process concerns that we must address,” said State Senator Jamie Eldridge (D-Acton). “As a legislator, I find the recommendations critical and needed for our current criminal justice system, and as guidelines for the Commonwealth’s law enforcement agencies.”
The final report makes several recommendations, including:
Limiting and regulating law enforcement’s acquisition, possession, access or use of any facial recognition system, or authority to enter into a contract for any of these purposes, absent express statutory authorization;
Requiring a warrant issued by a judge based on probable cause that an unidentified or unconfirmed individual in an image has committed a felony before permitting a facial recognition search, with exceptions for emergencies or to identify a deceased person;
Prohibiting the use of emotion recognition and the application of facial recognition technology in live surveillance and tracking;
Centralizing law enforcement use of facial recognition to a singular state-level facial recognition operations group within the Massachusetts State Police;
Including explicit requirements for notification to defendants identified using facial recognition technology and the admissibility of information received from an unlawful facial recognition search in criminal proceedings; and
Imposing more stringent data collection and reporting requirements on the use of this technology.
Chapter 253 of the Acts of 2020, commonly known as the “Police Reform Law,” set initial parameters surrounding the use of the technology by law enforcement and created The Facial Recognition Commission to further investigate and make recommendations for government use of facial recognition technology.
The Facial Recognition Commission convened in early 2021 and met regularly between April 16 and December 17. As part of its work, the Commission invited and accepted written and oral testimony, reports, articles, and other materials from a host of individuals and groups, including the general public. It also reviewed limitations imposed on the use of facial recognition in municipalities in the Commonwealth and other jurisdictions in the United States and created and tracked surveys sent to law enforcement and prosecuting agencies throughout Massachusetts to gain better insight into their prior and current use of this technology.
The final report and recommendations are the culmination of the Commission’s deliberations and its findings are based on those discussions, presentations, testimony, documentation and research.
“This Commission clearly felt that the Commonwealth must clarify the role this technology should play in our criminal justice system and better address the due process and civil rights concerns of our residents,” continued Representative Day. “The report lays out a series of measures that will provide our law enforcement professionals with the tools they need to keep the public safe while implementing the oversight necessary to ensure that this technology is not misused to the detriment of the general public.”
"The final report makes several recommendations across areas of authorization, emotion recognition, state management, data collection, and reporting - the commission raised concerns that current legislation does not statutorily regulate and monitor facial recognition technologies, and thus a change in legislation is called for,” added Senator Eldridge.
To view the report and learn more about the Special Commission to Study Facial Recognition, please visit the commission’s website at www.frcommissionma.com. View an FAQ fact sheet here.
