MuckRock and Open the Government have put together a guide on how you can use Freedom of Information laws to learn more about facial recognition use in your own community.

Government agencies, particularly police and law enforcement agencies, are increasingly employing this technology in the United States. Residents often don’t realize or know how it is being used, which undermines their ability to enforce proper use and accountability measures or challenge the technology’s presence in their communities at all.

In addition to the privacy concerns that come with databases of individual faces gathered and analyzed unbeknownst to their owners, there have been serious issues with accuracy and associated applications of our Constitutionally-guaranteed due process rights.

MuckRock and Open the Government have been filing requests and learning more about facial recognition use and policies, but it’s the kind of work that you - the concerned or interested individual - could do on your own or as part of our effort. 
 Take a look through our guide, learn a bit more, and let us know if you file your own request.

Filing is as easy as picking a location: Just let us know which jurisdiction you’re in via the form below, and we’ll file a request on your behalf and add it to our project.

Header image by Open the Government.