* Warning: This is an unofficial, introductory copy of the bill.
The official copy considered by the City Council is the first reader copy.
Introductory*
City of Baltimore
Council Bill R
(Resolution)
Introduced by: Councilmembers Burnett, Conway, Cohen, and Dorsey
A Resolution Entitled
A Council Resolution concerning
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Investigative Hearing - Use of Facial Recognition Technology in Baltimore
For the purpose of inviting representatives from the Baltimore Police Department, the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement, the Department of Transportation, the Law Department, the Office of the Comptroller, the Department of Finance, the Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office, the Office of the Public Defender for Baltimore City, the Baltimore Development Corporation, and concerned parties from Baltimore’s legal, academic, security, and non-profit sectors to discuss the use of facial recognition technology in Baltimore and any local legislative options for the Baltimore City Council to consider in order to balance public safety, privacy, and individual civil liberties.
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Recitals
Facial recognition technology is form of biometric technology that purports to be able to use algorithms to identify individuals based on their faces. While public safety officials may extol this technology as another “arrow in the quiver” for fighting crime, there is no question that facial recognition technology is fraught with collateral issues such as infringements on privacy and individual civil liberties. Further, several prominent academic studies have questioned whether this technology is truly accurate due to algorithmic racial bias against black, indigenous, and people of color.
Recently, recognizing the potential issues associated wit...
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