Port of Seattle Commission bans facial recognition
The Port of Seattle Commission voted today to permanently prohibit the use of biometric technology — including facial recognition — for law enforcement, security, and mass surveillance purposes by the Port and any private-sector entities operating at its facilities, which include the downtown port and Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. The vote builds on a moratorium on new biometrics uses that Commissioners established in 2019 until policies could be reviewed and developed.
This action makes the Port of Seattle the first port authority in the nation to formally limit the use of biometric technology. The new policies are also the strongest regulation of facial recognition biometrics by any government in the state of Washington, in that they extend to private sector operators as well as government employees.