Friend –

Nijeer Parks. Robert Williams. Porcha Woodruff. Michael Oliver. Randal Quran Reid. All had their lives turned upside down after police arrested them based on a false facial recognition match.

We know that facial recognition is more likely to misidentify people of color, and we know that the rules tried elsewhere to prevent wrongful arrests are not working. But a new California bill, AB 1814, would cement this broken policy and embolden police to expand this dangerous technology that is unreliable, racist, and anti-democratic.

Facial recognition poisons police investigations. It sends officers on a search for evidence to support a computer-generated false match and introduces layers of psychological biases that contribute to false arrests.

And to be clear, the problems do not stop when the technology works as accurately as intended. In a world with widespread face surveillance, we could no longer go to a protest, visit a loved one, get an abortion, or even leave our home without the government being able to scan, identify, and track us.

We know the answer: take facial recognition off the table for police. Just because a technology exists, it does not mean the government should use it. To achieve this goal, we must stop AB 1814. Send a message to your Assemblymember and stay on the lookout for future actions.

Thanks for taking action,

Carmen-Nicole Cox
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Director of Government Affairs, ACLU California Action