UCLA was the first university to openly consider facial recognition technology for security surveillance. The university abandoned that plan, but other colleges may be using the software.
The University of California, Los Angeles, was the first university to openly propose using facial recognition software for security surveillance. Now it’s the first to openly drop that plan. But whether other colleges are using the technology behind closed doors remains to be seen.
UCLA first floated the plan last year as part of a larger policy about campus security. Students voiced concerns during a 30-day comment period in June and at a town hall on the issue in late January.
Fight for the Future, a national digital rights advocacy organization, launched its own public campaign against the UCLA administration’s consideration early this year, in partnership with Students for Sensible Drug Policy.
“This victory at UCLA will send a pretty strong message to any other administration who is considering doing this,” said Evan Greer, deputy director of the organization. “It’s not going to be worth the backlash.”