Mass. judicial committee hears broad support for warrant requirement on police use of facial recognition

Representative Carlos Ramos and other sponsors told the Joint Committee on the Judiciary they are seeking to convert the Special Commission’s recommendations on facial recognition into state law and to tighten the rules for police use. The bill would raise the standard for searches using facial recognition from the current “relevant and material” test to a warrant requirement. Supporters told the committee that legal protections and due‑process safeguards are necessary because the technology can be used for mass surveillance and is error‑prone in many operational settings. “The commission … came up with…