LAKELAND, Fla. — The Lakeland Downtown Development Authority announced Thursday it would disable the facial recognition software from security cameras installed in the downtown area.
Disabling the facial recognition software comes after the ACLU expressed concerns about the privacy issues associated with facial recognition cameras.
According to the LDDA, they have removed three faces that were loaded into the software that they claimed: "harassed and threatened an LDDA employee, trapping her briefly in her office; harassed and stole from a Farmers Market vendor resulting in being trespassed from the Market; and a man with a long-standing record of threats, harassment, and aggressive behavior."
The LDDA said the ACLU threatened litigation and determined "the harmful effects of pointless litigation that the LDDA can not afford outweigh the small benefits that facial would have provided."
Officially, the LDDA said they will "no longer know or receive notice when those three faces, or any others, enter the camera space of the downtown district."
