The Wrong Digital Ban

摘要

San Francisco, long a vanguard of digital enlightenment, has just made a regressive mistake: It became the first major city in the U.S. to prohibit its police force and government agencies from using facial-recognition technology. Such a ban has an understandable appeal. Concerns about facial recognition are widespread among the public. In just a few years, the technology has advanced at a startling rate. Other countries are using it to repress their citizens, while Americans are accustomed to anonymity in public spaces. Abuses-accidental and otherwise-are all too easy to envision.