Face recognition targeted by US lawmakers even as the tech IDs Capitol rioters

Pro-Trump protesters storming the US Capitol in Washington on Jan 6, 2021. As many rioters have been identified via facial recognition, racial justice activists warned that the tech can perpetuate discriminatory policing and constant tracking could become the norm. — Reuters

OAKLAND, California: US lawmakers are moving ahead with efforts to ban facial recognition software even as the technology helps identify supporters of President Donald Trump who ransacked their workplace and forced them to evacuate this month.

Researchers and law enforcement have been running photographs from the Jan 6 siege of the Capitol through facial recognition, which looks for similar faces in databases of mugshots, social media headshots or other images.