Milwaukee police trade: 2.5M mugshots for free facial recognition access

Summary

Milwaukee police consider trade: 2.5 million mugshots for free facial recognition accessMeta agrees to $1.4B settlement with Texas over privacy lawsuitMeta has reached a record $1.4B settlement with Texas over allegations it used its facial recognition software on photos without consent.Straight Arrow NewsMilwaukee Police Department is proposing trading 2.5 million jail records for facial recognition technology access with the company Biometrica.Police say acquiring the technology will lead to higher clearance rate of cases and improve the speed at which crimes are solved. Officials say it will not be used alone to establish probable cause.Activists and residents have concerns over the impact to privacy and add to growing surveillance tech in the city. Some are concerned how federal agencies could access it as well.Milwaukee police are mulling a trade: 2.5 million mugshots for free use of facial recognition technology.Officials from the Milwaukee Police Department say swapping the photos with the software firm Biometrica will lead to quicker arrests and solving of crimes. But that benefit is unpersuasive for those who say the trade is startling, due to the concerns of the surveillance of city residents and possible federal agency access."We recognize the very delicate balance between advancement in technology and ensuring we as a department do not violate the rights of all of those in this diverse community," Milwaukee Police Chief of Staff Heather Hough said during an April 17 meeting.For the first time, Milwaukee police officials detailed their plans to use the facial recognition technology during a meeting of the city's Fire and Police Commission, the oversight body for those departments. In the past, the department relied on facial recognition technology belonging to neighboring police agenciesIn an April 24 email, Hough said the department has not entered into an agreement with any facial recognition and the department intends to continue engaging the public be...