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May 20, 2025

New Orleans Police Used Real-Time Facial Recognition Tracking Despite Ban
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In Louisiana, the New Orleans Police Department has reportedly paused
its sweeping use of real-time facial recognition technology amid massive
backlash following a Washington Post exposé. New Orleans police
reportedly used a private network of more than 200 surveillance cameras
and facial recognition technology to constantly monitor public streets,
with no oversight and despite a 2022 city ordinance that limited the use
of facial recognition by police. The technology was provided by the
nonprofit Project NOLA, which operates out of the University of New
Orleans. The Post exposé said the surveillance method is "without a
known precedent in any major American city that may violate municipal
guardrails around use of the technology."


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