Facial Recognition Bans in Cities and States

Facial-recognition bans and restrictions are not uniform. They may apply to government departments, police, schools, or private businesses; they may cover acquisition, use, real-time scanning, or only particular spaces. A city’s “ban” headline should therefore be checked against the ordinance text, definitions, exceptions, and current amendments. Rules can also distinguish face detection, identification, verification, and use of information supplied by another organization. San Francisco’s Administrative Code Chapter 19B restricts city departments from obtaining, retaining, accessing, or using face-recognition technology on city-issued software or devices, subject to enumerated exceptions and qualifications. For example, the code addresses stock manufacturer-installed capabilities that cannot be removed but are not used. This is a government-department rule; it is not a blanket ban on all private facial recognition in the city. Portland’s Code Chapter 34.10, by contrast, prohibits private entities from using face-recognition technologies in places of public accommodation, subject to exceptions. Virginia’s statutes, effective July 1, 2026, prohibit local law-enforcement agencies and campus police from purchasing or deploying facial recognition unless a statute expressly authorizes it. The law imposes controls over agency custody, confidentiality, and access to data. New Orleans’ July 2022 amendment to Code §147-2 allowed NOPD to request facial recognition for investigations of enumerated prior crimes, required case-by-case judicial approval and monthly reporting, and excluded specified offenses. A later August 2022 amendment proposed changing those procedures but was vetoed; it should not be treated as operative law. Check the current consolidated code and council record for later changes. These examples illustrate different regulatory models, not a national legal standard. A current status check should identify the regulated actor, prohibited act, setting, exceptions, authorization process, retention rules, and effective date. Facial recognition use can also implicate constitutional, biometric-privacy, data-protection, and civil-rights laws beyond the local ordinance.