Bill requiring facial recognition notices at businesses gets shelved

Politico Pro
By Katy Murphy

09/10/2019 02:24 PM ED

A bill that would have required California bars and other businesses to post notices at entryways if they use facial recognition to identify customers was withdrawn from the Senate floor this morning. 

CA AB1281 (19R), by Assemblyman Ed Chau (D-Monterey Park), chairman of the Assembly Privacy and Consumer Protection Committee, is now a “two-year bill,” Chau’s office confirmed.

AB 1281 was opposed by the state retailers association, which argued that the requirements — that notices be placed so that a customer had a chance to see it before being captured on camera — were unclear.

The president of the group, Rachel Michelin, said today she looked forward to “continued conversations with the author.”

Another bill to regulate the use of facial recognition tools, CA AB1215 (19R) by Assemblyman Phil Ting (D-San Francisco), is expected to be taken up this week. That bill would ban the use of the technology on body camera footage for three years.