Washington governor signs facial recognition curbs into law News
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Washington governor signs facial recognition curbs into law

Washington Governor Jay Inslee signed a bill into law Tuesday limiting the use of facial recognition technology.

AN ACT Relating to the use of facial recognition services” will allow law enforcement to use facial recognition “in a manner that benefits society while prohibiting uses that threaten our democratic freedoms and put our civil liberties at risk.” This will include tracking victims of kidnapping and criminal suspects.

They must also train the people who will be using the services and have third parties ensure that the services are being used properly. They must also tell criminal defendants that facial recognition services have been used in their case so that attorneys may bring it up during trial if necessary.

Inslee vetoed Section 10 of the bill, which would have established a task force that would work to review and make sure that there was no abuse by the agencies in their use of the services, as well as help maintain the quality of the services. This was vetoed primarily because it was not part of the budget for the year.