Michigan passes the strictest laws in the US on the use of facial recognition by police

The state of Michigan will adopt the strictest policy in the U.S. for police use of facial recognition through a settlement in a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Robert Williams, a Detroit man who was wrongfully arrested in front of his family after facial recognition software misidentified him.

A press release from the ACLU said the settlement prohibits police from arresting people based solely on facial recognition results or the results of photo lineups using facial recognition searches. Michigan police cannot conduct a lineup based solely on a facial recognition tip without “independent and reliable evidence linking a suspect to a crime.”

Officials requesting the use of facial recognition algorithms must complete additional forms that “document critical information.”

And police must be trained in the use of facial recognition technology to “minimize the risk of wrongful arrests based on facial recognition technology (FRT) – especially of black people, who are at greater risk of misidentification by FRT.”

There is also a retrospective element in the form of an audit that will examine all arrest warrants related to the use of facial recognition systems since 2017.

Williams’ 2020 arrest was based on a facial match made between poor-quality surveillance camera footage and a photo comparison. He talks about how the wrongful arrest for allegedly stealing some watches traumatized his family and says he hopes the settlement makes it “far less likely that something like this will happen again to another person in Detroit.”

“As this painful chapter of our lives draws to a close,” he says, “my wife and I will continue to raise awareness about the dangers of this technology.” Williams, who will also receive damages as part of the settlement, had called for a complete ban on facial recognition by law enforcement in Michigan.

A report by NPR quotes a statement from Detroit police saying they changed their facial recognition policies in 2023 after the wrongful arrest of Porcha Woodruff, a black woman accused of car theft due to a mismatch in her facial biometric data.

“Following the incident, the Department created a policy specifically for facial recognition that required three independent confirmations before it was cleared for use in an investigation. The policy also makes clear that a facial recognition match can only be used as a lead to further an investigation and cannot serve as a basis for naming someone as a suspect in an investigation.”

Unlawful arrests lead to advocates for legal reform at FRT

Those wrongfully arrested based on faulty facial recognition matches have been among the system’s most vocal critics. Williams has reached out to California lawmakers seeking a bill that would impose similar restrictions on police use of facial recognition.

Phil Mayor, senior staff attorney at ACLU Michigan, expressed hope that the settlement “will serve as a model for other police departments that insist on using facial recognition technology.”

“Under this agreement, the Detroit Police Department should transform from a national leader in wrongful arrests based on facial recognition technology to a leader in implementing meaningful measures to restrict and limit the use of this technology.”

In early June, the city of Ann Arbor, Michigan, voted to develop policies and guidelines for the use of FRT by local police.

Article topics

ACLU | biometric identification | biometrics | criminal ID | Detroit | facial recognition | false arrest | lawsuit | Michigan | police