Press Release: 7/9/2025
Testimony submitted to the Joint Committee on the Judiciary In support of H.1946/S.1053 An Act to implement the recommendations of the special commission on facial recognition technology
The League of Women Voters of Massachusetts (LWVMA), with 44 local Leagues representing 155
communities from Cape Cod to the Berkshires, strongly supports H.1946/S.1053 to strengthen the very
minimal existing facial recognition law and ensure Massachusetts residents are not subjected to
unauthorized surveillance and privacy invasion.
Privacy protection has been a focus of the League for over 100 years. The Fourth Amendment to the
Constitution protects our right to privacy, to be “secure in our persons ... against unreasonable searches...
without probable cause, ... particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be
seized.” The League is convinced that individual rights now protected by the Constitution should not be
weakened or abridged. Facial recognition systems systematically void this protection. This technology is
used without prior knowledge or consent and is not revealed in trial discovery processes.
With this legislation, only the Registry of Motor Vehicles and the State Police will be able to possess
facial recognition technology, and only subject to strict limitations and civil rights protections. LWVMA
supports the implementation of the Special Commission recommendations, issued in March 2022,
because the state currently has no regulations regarding use of facial recognition technology, except in
very limited instances by the RMV and the State Police. All other public agencies are unregulated
regarding possession and use of this technology.
We learned from the special commission testimony that some AI companies likely violate copyright by
scanning all media for any tagged faces and then peddling that data. One company bragged about having
over one billion images that it provided to law enforcement agencies who purchased or were testing their
system. That same company asserted that all prior data suggesting systemic errors in their system were
either bogus or now outdated by all the improvements they had made, without presenting any
substantiating data.
This technology is now ubiquitous and remains substantially unregulated, so none of us are safe from
tracking, regardless of how careful we try to be. We can choose not to take our cell phone with us; we can
choose not to be on Facebook or Instagram or LinkedIn, but we cannot choose to leave our face at home.
Flying drones with sophisticated cameras and concealed fixed cameras can surveil all of us without our
consent or knowledge. This bill does not deal with private enterprise use of this technology, but it is a
start. At the very least, we need strong legislative protections with enforceable and enforced regulations
on how government agencies can and cannot use this technology.
Currently, there are very few protections against misuse of facial recognition. In 2020 Governor Baker
signed the omnibus police reform legislation, which left out strong regulations governing police use of
facial recognition. That law provides few protections for citizens. It neither prohibits nor regulates
whether or when this technology can or cannot be used by public agencies other than police and Registry
of Motor Vehicles. It does not prohibit or regulate the use of facial recognition technologies for
surveillance of public spaces like streets and parks. No limitations are placed on which public agencies
can or cannot acquire and use such systems; there are no explicit restrictions preventing other agencies
from acquiring their own systems.
LWVMA supports the proposed solutions to these problems in H.1946/S.1053, An Act to implement the
recommendations of the special commission on facial recognition technology, sponsored by Senator
Cynthia Creem and Representatives Orlando Ramos and David Rogers. This bill would prohibit all public
entities, including public schools, MassDOT, and other agencies, from using and possessing this
technology. Only the RMV and the State Police will be able to possess these technologies, and only
subject to strict limitations and civil rights protections.
This bill requires law enforcement to notify all individuals identified by a facial recognition search within
seven days, absent an order for delayed notice. Law enforcement agencies and district attorneys must
make available to criminal defendants and their attorneys all records and information pertaining to any
such searches performed or requested during the investigation that is the object of the criminal
prosecution. Currently, this information can be systematically omitted from discovery.
LWVMA encourages this committee to report out favorably, and not watered down, H.1946/S.1053. We
need strong regulations with strong disclosure and enforcement mechanisms to restore protection of our
civil rights and civil liberties, and this legislation provides an excellent model.
Thank you for your attention and consideration.