Image Recognition
“I’m getting more and more concerned about infringements on my privacy,” said King County Councilmember Jeanne Kohl-Welles when reached for comment. Facial recognition technology is known to have an inbuilt bias when it comes to people with relatively darker skin, especially women. Nonbinary and trans people are also frequently misidentified by facial recognition systems. Jonathan Fowler, Deputy Chief of Staff for Councilmember Kohl-Welles, points out another concern: biometric data can be stored long-term without the people’s knowledge, and no database is completely 100% hacker-proof. Though some cities have enacted similar bans, King County would be the first county in the nation to issue such a prohibition.