Brookline Bans Face Surveillance Technology

BROOKLINE, MA — The town's legislators voted to ban the municipal use of face surveillance technology Thurday night. Brookline joins Somerville and three California cities, which passed similar bans this year.

"We have serious concerns about this technology and we don't want to adopt it wholesale," said Town Meeting Clint Richmond, who urged the legislators to vote for the ban.

The technology, which the town does not use currently, is not regulated.

A bill before state legislators aims to establish a statewide moratorium on government use of face surveillance and other biometric screening technologies until the legislature imposes checks and balances as a way to protect the public’s interest.

Town meeting member and police officer Casey Hatchett proposed making an exception for town police when it came to the ban, saying the technology could help in an array of situations. She pointed to an incident that happened recently in Coolidge Corner where a man collapsed while running and didn't have his ID on him. He was in the hospital for days and no one knew who he was. In a case like that, the technology could have helped identify him and get family members to him quicker.

She argued that technology and civil liberties can co-exist.

"We are not China," she said. Her proposed amendment to make an exemption to the police department, which doesn't yet use the tech, failed.

A spokesperson from the ACLU argued against allowing the technology in town.

Send a very clear message both here in the town, to the state legislature, to the federal government that such surveillance technology is fundamentally at odds with what it means to be a free people, the representative said.

"By passing a ban on government use of face surveillance technology, the people of Brookline are standing up in defense of fundamental rights and civil liberties, including privacy, racial and gender justice, due process, and freedom of speech and association," said Kade Crockford, director of the Technology for Liberty Program at the ACLU of Massachusetts in response.

"In the absence of national action, municipal governments are taking commonsense action to protect their communities by bringing face surveillance technology under democratic control," Crockford said. "Now, Massachusetts must also lead the nation by passing a statewide moratorium on this technology until there are civil liberties protections in place."

Those in favor of the ban argued that it threatened civil liberties, had too many flaws - including that it was prone to misidentifying people of color, especially women and children.

The ban does not prevent the town or police officials from collecting evidence or exchanging information or photos with other departments or agencies. The ban also does not change current practices, proponents said.

In June, the ACLU of Massachusetts started the “Press Pause on Face Surveillance” campaign to build awareness about the civil liberties concerns posed by face surveillance with the aim of passing a statewide moratorium on the government’s use of the technology.

A recent poll shows nearly 8 in 10 Massachusetts voters support a moratorium on government use of face surveillance technology, according to the ACLU. Face surveillance tech is currently unregulated in the state.

Springfield is also considering municipal prohibitions on use.

More on the other things that happened at Night 5 of Brookline Town Meeting Thursday:

Brookline Town Meeting Night 5: How They Voted

Patch reporter Jenna Fisher can be reached at Jenna.Fisher@patch.com or by calling 617-942-0474. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram (@ReporterJenna).