Agenda Text
title
Supporting House Bill 1538 and Senate Bill 1385, providing for a moratorium on government use of facial recognition and other biometric surveillance technologies.
body
Official Text
WHEREAS, Government use of face surveillance technology poses unique and significant civil rights and civil liberties threats to the people of Somerville; and
WHEREAS, MIT researchers have found that face recognition technology performs poorly when attempting to identify the faces of darker skinned people, and particularly women; and
WHEREAS, The use of mugshot databases in facial recognition searches compounds racial bias, because Black and Latinx people are unfairly overrepresented in those data; and
WHEREAS, The broad application of face surveillance in public spaces is the functional equivalent of requiring every person to carry and display a personal photo identification card at all times, which constitutes an unacceptable mass violation of privacy; and
WHEREAS, The deployment of other biometric surveillance systems, including gait and voice recognition, raise similar concerns as face recognition; and
WHEREAS, The Somerville City Council and city councils all across the nation are considering ordinances that ban the local use of this technology; and
WHEREAS, Proposed legislation in both houses of the 191st General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts address the Council’s concerns with this technology; and
WHEREAS, The legislature is currently considering Senate Bill 1385, an Act Establishing A Moratorium On Face Recognition And Other Remote Biometric Surveillance Systems, and House Bill 1538, an Act Relative To Unregulated Face Recognition And Emerging Biometric Surveillance Technologies; and
WHEREAS, That legislation provides that, absent express statutory authorization, it shall be unlawful for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts or any Massachusetts government official to acquire, possess, access, or use face recognition or any at-a-distance biometric surveillance system, or acquire, possess, access, or use information derived from a facial recognition system or from a biometric surveillance system operated by another entity; and
WHEREAS, That legislation creates a private right of action providing Massachusetts residents with both legal and equitable remedies; and
WHEREAS, That bill provides for sanctions against government officials who violate the provisions contained therein; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT
RESOLVED, That the Somerville City Council strongly supports House Bill 1538 and Senate Bill 1385; AND BE IT FURTHER
RESOLVED, That the Somerville City Council urges the 191st General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to pass these measures providing for a moratorium on government use of facial recognition and other biometric surveillance technologies; AND BE IT FURTHER
RESOLVED, That the City Clerk forward a copy of this resolution to Somerville’s legislative delegation comprised of Senator Patricia Jehlen, Representative Mike Connolly, Representative Denise Provost, and Representative Christine Barber; AND BE IT FURTHER
RESOLVED, That the City Clerk forward a copy of this resolution to the chairs and vice-chairs of the Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security to which Senate Bill 1385 was assigned; RESOLVED,
RESOLVED, That the City Clerk forward a copy of this resolution to the chairs and vice-chairs of the Joint Committee on the Judiciary to which House Bill 1538 was assigned; RESOLVED,
RESOLVED, That the City Clerk forward a copy of this resolution to House Speaker DeLeo, Senate President Spilka, and Governor Baker.