Face biometrics dropped by Verkada in 4 US locales as data protection gains momentum

Legal restrictions on the use of facial recognition have prompted security camera vendor Verkada to shut down the capability in four U.S. jurisdictions, a move that could be repeated by other vendors and in other jurisdictions soon.

Verkada’s face detection and ‘person of interest notifications’ have been turned off in Texas, Illinois, Baltimore, Maryland and Portland, Oregon, IPVM reports (subscription required and recommended). Each of those jurisdictions have laws limiting the allowable deployment of facial recognition by private entities.

Other states are considering similar measures, however. As pointed out by MdTF Principal Data Scientist John Howard in a LinkedIn post referring to Data Privacy Week, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts and Tennessee have all introduced biometric data privacy legislation since the start of 2023. So has Mississippi.

“These laws have the potential to almost double the amount of people covered by Illinois style #BIPA legislation in the U.S. If you’re working in biometrics, I strongly suggest you track these as they could impact what you (and your companies) can and can’t do with certain computer programs,” Howard writes.

Data Protection Week began as Data Protection Day, which is January 28.

For the 17th Data Protection Day, the Council of Europe is celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Convention for the Protection of Individuals with regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data – Convention 108.

Thales cites a Gartner estimate that three-quarters of the world’s population will be covered by modern data privacy regulations. The company shares advice for enterprises and consumers alike to protect their data privacy.

As IPVM suggests, an inappropriate deployment of facial recognition at one of America’s most famous sports and entertainment venues targeting critics of the corporate owner could generate the political will to add to the U.S. jurisdictions limiting private uses of the technology.

Article Topics

biometric data  |  biometrics  |  data protection  |  facial recognition  |  IPVM  |  legislation  |  Maryland Test Facility (MdTF)