What limits, if any, should federal , state, and local governments impose on the use of “facial recognition technology” (FRT) by law enforcement?
For instance, given FRT’s demonstrated accuracy problems – at least three people have been falsely arrested because of faulty FRT identifications- should any use of FRT by law enforcement be barred until the FRT is demonstrably more accurate? Or, should FRT be used only when law enforcement officers have a search warrant, backed by a finding of probable cause? Should there be an exception to any warrant requirement for use of FRT by DHS officers at the borders? Or should DHS officers at least be required to document “reasonable suspicion” when they use FRT at the borders? Should the FRT databases be limited to mugshots of those who have been arrested, or to photos from motor vehicle databases?
Should use of FRT from companies such as Clearview AI be barred altogether because their databases are developed through “web-scraping” (II, below) which allegedly violates state “biometric information privacy laws” and the Federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA)? Would such a bar unlawfully infringe on Clearview’s First Amendment to Free Speech ?
The use of FRT by law enforcement obviously raises important legal and public policy issues. Please write a paper (10-15 pages) in which you analyze the issues and explain your view of how FRT use by law enforcement should be regulated.
## Slides 11-34 of the Week 7 Lecture -AI and Decision-Making in the Criminal Justice Process- may help get you started in your research. But, use FRT is one of the hottest issues in the law right now (May 2021). New cases, articles and proposed legislation on FRT are appearing regularly.
