Three Massachusetts Cities Banned Facial Recognition. Here’s What They Know That You Don’t.

Somerville did it in 2019 — the second city in America after San Francisco. Boston followed in 2020. Cambridge joined them shortly after.

Three Massachusetts cities independently decided that facial recognition technology was too dangerous for their governments to use. Not too expensive. Not too unreliable. Too dangerous.

They’re right. And the reasons apply to you whether you live in Massachusetts or not.

Why These Cities Banned It

Facial recognition isn’t like other surveillance tools. A license plate reader logs your car. A facial recognition system logs you — your identity, everywhere you go, every time a camera captures your face.

The technology has documented problems with accuracy, particularly for people of color. Studies from MIT and the National Institute of Standards and Technology have found significantly higher error rates for darker-skinned faces and women. This isn’t a theoretical concern — there are documented cases of wrongful arrests based on facial recognition misidentification.

But accuracy isn’t the only problem. Even a perfectly accurate facial recognition system creates a record of everywhere you go. Unlike a license plate (which is attached to a car), your face is attached to you. You can’t leave it at home.

Boston’s city council concluded that the risks of the technology outweighed any law enforcement benefit. Cambridge and Somerville reached the same conclusion independently. MIT and Harvard researchers, many of whom live and work in these communities, have published extensively on the harms of facial recognition — giving elected officials the academic backing to act.

Massachusetts Doesn’t Have a Privacy Law (Yet)

Despite being home to some of the most privacy-aware communities in the country, Massachusetts does not yet have a comprehensive state consumer data privacy law. Legislative proposals are pending, but nothing has passed.

This means Massachusetts residents don’t have the same statutory deletion rights as residents of California, Colorado, Virginia, or the other 19 states with comprehensive privacy laws.

But that doesn’t mean you’re powerless. Most data brokers and facial recognition companies have opt-out processes that work regardless of your state. The process is just voluntary on the company’s part rather than legally mandated.

The Surveillance Landscape

Municipal bans are limited. Boston, Cambridge, and Somerville banned their own government agencies from using facial recognition. But these bans don’t apply to federal agencies, private companies, or other municipalities. The TSA can still use facial recognition at Logan Airport. Private retailers can still use it in stores. Police in neighboring towns can still use it.

Cambridge ditched Flock cameras. In 2025, Cambridge joined the national wave of cities canceling contracts with Flock Safety, the license plate reader company. The decision came amid revelations that Flock data was being searched by local police on behalf of ICE.

ACLU of Massachusetts is very active. The state’s ACLU chapter has been at the forefront of surveillance pushback, driving public awareness and supporting legislative efforts to restrict facial recognition statewide.

What Massachusetts Residents Should Do

Step 1: Audit your facial recognition exposure. Search yourself on PimEyes, FaceCheck.ID, Google Lens, Yandex, and TinEye. The MIT and Harvard community has published tools and research that can help you understand what these databases contain.

Step 2: Submit opt-out requests. Even without a state law, you can opt out of major facial recognition databases. PimEyes has an opt-out process. If you’re in one of the six Clearview AI opt-out states (Massachusetts isn’t one, but it’s worth submitting a request anyway — some companies honor requests broadly).

Step 3: Remove yourself from data brokers. Submit deletion requests to Spokeo, BeenVerified, WhitePages, Radaris, TruePeopleSearch, and others. Without a state law, these are voluntary — but most brokers honor them to avoid bad press and potential future liability.

Step 4: Check your vehicle exposure. Use DeFlock.me to see license plate reader locations in your area. Cambridge’s Flock removal means fewer cameras there, but surrounding communities may still have them.

Step 5: Harden your digital footprint. Private social media profiles. Disable face tagging. Strip photo metadata. Disable ad tracking on your phone. Use encrypted messaging.

Step 6: Support statewide legislation. The most effective protection would be a comprehensive Massachusetts privacy law. Contact your state legislators and support organizations like the ACLU of Massachusetts that are pushing for stronger protections.

The Bigger Picture

Boston, Cambridge, and Somerville didn’t ban facial recognition because they were paranoid. They banned it because they understood the technology better than most. When you live in a community with MIT’s Media Lab and Harvard’s Berkman Klein Center down the street, the research isn’t abstract — it’s your neighbor’s work.

The lesson for the rest of the country is simple: the communities that understand facial recognition best are the ones most eager to restrict it. That should tell you something.