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San Francisco bans facial recognition software
PRINT ALL READINGS (PDF)Big Brother - Level 0
San Francisco has banned facial recognition. The city uses cameras for car number plates and at airports. Officials say facial recognition will increase security. Police can quickly and cheaply find criminals and missing people. An expert said: "A ban on facial recognition will make [San Francisco] frozen in time with [old] technology."
An official said facial recognition was like "Big Brother" from the book "1984". Big Brother is when governments try to control and spy on everyone. The official said: "We can have security without being a security state [and] good policing without being a police state." He said community information was best to build trust.
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Big Brother - Level 1
San Francisco is the first U.S. city to ban facial recognition. The police cannot use the software. The city already uses cameras for car number plates and at airports. The police wear body cameras. Officials say facial recognition will increase security. They say it is cheaper and faster for police to find criminals and to find missing people. A technology expert said: "A ban on facial recognition will make [San Francisco] frozen in time with [old] technology."
An official said facial recognition was like "Big Brother". This is a character in the book "1984". The phrase Big Brother describes governments trying to control and spy on everyone. The official said: "We can have security without being a security state. We can have good policing without being a police state." He said we should build trust by using good community information, not by using Big Brother technology. Many countries use facial recognition.
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Big Brother - Level 2
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San Francisco is the first city in the USA to ban facial recognition. The city has said police and other departments cannot use the software. The city already uses surveillance cameras for car number plates, and the police wear body cameras. Facial recognition is at airports. Officials want to start facial recognition to increase security. They said it would be cheaper and faster for police to find crime suspects and to identify missing people. An information technology expert said: "A ban on facial recognition will make [San Francisco] frozen in time with out-dated technology."
Many people oppose the technology. It is widely used in other parts of the world. A San Francisco official said facial recognition was a "Big Brother" technology. Big Brother is a character in the book "1984". The phrase Big Brother is used to describe attempts by governments to control and spy on citizens. The official said: "We can have security without being a security state. We can have good policing without being a police state." He added: "Part of that is building trust with the community based on good community information, not on Big Brother technology."
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11 online activities | 8-page printable (PDF)
Big Brother - Level 3
San Francisco has become the first city in 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 for reading car number plates and police officers wear body cameras. There is facial recognition at airports. Many officials wanted to introduce facial recognition in the city to increase security. They said facial recognition technology would make it cheaper and faster for police to find crime suspects and identify missing people. An expert on information technology said: "A ban on facial recognition will make [San Francisco] frozen in time with outdated technology."
There are many opponents of the technology, which is being widely used in other parts of the world. San Francisco official Aaron Peskin called facial recognition a "Big Brother" technology. Big Brother is a character in the book "Nineteen Eighty-Four" by George Orwell. The phrase Big Brother is now used to describe attempts by governments or authorities to increase surveillance and "spy" on citizens. Mr Peskin said: "We can have security without being a security state. We can have good policing without being a police state." He added that: "Part of that is building trust with the community based on good community information, not on Big Brother technology."
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