I write as a concerned resident, and I urge you to recommend that the Brookline Town Meeting vote to pass Warrant Article 25, proposed by Town Meeting Member Amy Hummel. This would adopt a new bylaw banning municipal bodies from using face surveillance technology.
Face surveillance technologies give the government unprecedented power to track who we are, where we go, what we do, and whom we know. The use of these technologies is particularly dangerous for people of color. Numerous studies have shown that face surveillance technologies are racially biased, particularly against Black women.
Somerville recently became the first city on the East Coast to ban this dangerous technology, and Cambridge is considering a similar ban. A recent poll showed that 76 percent of Massachusetts voters do not think the government should be able to monitor and track people with this technology. Lawmakers are considering a statewide moratorium, but we can’t wait for the state to act.
Please support the face surveillance ban, because privacy can't protect itself.
