Washington state signed into law the most detailed regulations of facial recognition in the U.S., allowing government agencies to use the technology, with restrictions that could serve as a model for other states
By Ryan Tracy March 31, 2020 4:34 pm ET Washington state adopted a Microsoft Corp. -backed law enshrining the most detailed regulations of facial recognition in the U.S., potentially serving as a model for other states as use of the technology grows.
Passage of the law is a win for Microsoft, which is based in Redmond, Wash., near Seattle, and which had lobbied in favor of it. Cloud providers such as Microsoft and other technology firms see a multibillion-dollar opportunity as businesses and governments apply facial recognition to identify customers, solve crimes, control access to buildings and more. Proposed bans on the technology threaten that opportunity.
Microsoft has helped promote the legislation in other states. In Idaho, Republican State Rep. Britt Raybould modeled a facial-recognition proposal on a draft of the Washington bill she received from Microsoft after reaching out to the company, she said in an interview. “It’s a starting point,” she said of the Idaho bill.
“Washington state’s new law breaks through what at times has been a polarizing debate,” Microsoft President Brad Smith said in a blog post Tuesday. “This balanced approach ensures that facial recognition can be used as a tool to protect the public, but only in ways that respect fundamental rights and serve the public interest.”
Police could use facial recognition for ongoing surveillance or real-time identification of people but they will need a warrant or court order first. Some in Washington state have criticized the law. Jennifer Lee, technology and liberty project manager for the ACLU’s local chapter, says the bill gives the government too much leeway. She noted one provision that allows police to use the technology without a warrant if “exigent circumstances exist.”
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