SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) – Springfield City Councilors will be re-introducing legislation to ban the use of facial surveillance technology in the city.
Councilors Orlando Ramos and Adam Gomez said that the technology has been shown to be ineffective and can be an invasion of privacy. If approved, Springfield would join Somerville, Brookline, and Northampton as the only Massachusetts communities that have approved such legislation.
However, Police Commissioner Cheryl Clapprood said like all other technology, facial recognition continues to evolve and that an outright ban might be premature. The ordinance would have to be voted on by the full city council in order to be approved.
Mayor Domenic Sarno has already said he’d veto the ordinance if it were to pass.
