San Francisco has become the first city the USA to ban facial recognition software. The city has said police and other public departments cannot use the software. San Francisco already uses surveillance cameras reading car number plates and police officers wear body cameras. There is facial recognition airports. Many officials wanted to introduce facial recognition the city to increase security. They said facial recognition technology would make it cheaper and faster police to find crime suspects and identify missing people. An expert information technology said: "A ban facial recognition will make [San Francisco] frozen in time outdated technology."
There are many opponents the technology, which is being widely used other parts the world. San Francisco official Aaron Peskin called facial recognition a "Big Brother" technology. Big Brother is a character the book "Nineteen Eighty-Four" George Orwell. The phrase Big Brother is now used to describe attempts governments or authorities to increase surveillance and "spy" citizens. Mr Peskin said: "We can have security being a security state. We can have good policing without being a police state." He added that: "Part that is building trust with the community based good community information, not on Big Brother technology."
