Groups Demand End to Secret Facial Recognition Program in DC Area
Consumer Federation of America joined other groups dedicated to privacy, transparency, accountability, and good government in a letter urging the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments to end funding for the National Capital Region Facial Recognition Investigative Leads System pilot project, halt the use of the system, and make public the documents related to the project. Using a facial recognition system to identify individuals, particularly protesters, is a new development in law enforcement in the D.C. Metropolitan Area. The groups said that the public should be informed and provided a meaningful opportunity to weigh in on the use of new surveillance technologies, and some technologies, such as facial recognition, are antithetical to democracy and should not be used.
