Oakland, CA Privacy & Surveillance: Facial Recognition Ban (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing section
- Oakland Municipal Code § 9.64.045
- Banned technology
- Biometric/face recognition and predictive policing
- Applies to
- City government, including police
- Exception
- Inadvertent receipt, immediately destroyed & reported
- Oversight on exceptions
- Privacy Advisory Commission then City Council
Summary
Oakland outright bans its own government, including police, from acquiring, retaining, requesting or using facial recognition and other "Biometric Surveillance Technology," plus predictive-policing algorithms, under Municipal Code Section 9.64.045. Unlike other surveillance tools, no City Council vote can authorize an exception to this prohibition.
9.64.045 - Prohibition on City's acquisition and/or use of Biometric Surveillance Technology and Predictive Policing Technology. A.Notwithstanding any other provision of this Chapter (9.64), it shall be unlawful for the City or any City staff to obtain, retain, request, access, or use: 1.Biometric Surveillance Technology; or 2.Predictive Policing Technology; or 3.Information obtained from either Biometric Surveillance Technology or Predictive Policing Technology.
"Biometric Surveillance Technology" means any computer software that uses face recognition technology or other remote biometric recognition in real time or on a recording or photograph.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 102 | Planning Code: Supplement 59).
Full Breakdown
64 uses for other surveillance tools like license plate readers or body cameras. 010 as "any computer software that uses face recognition technology or other remote biometric recognition in real time or on a recording or photograph," and "Face Recognition Technology" is separately defined as an automated or semi-automated process that identifies or verifies a person from their face, or logs facial, head or body characteristics to infer emotion, associations or location. "Predictive Policing Technology" covers computer algorithms that use historical data to forecast high-crime places, times, or people or groups likely tied to crime, though the definition carves out simple crime-mapping tools like heat maps.
Subsection B narrows the ban to technology that actually meets the Biometric Surveillance Technology definition. Subsection C provides a limited exception for inadvertent or unintentional receipt of banned data: staff must not have solicited it, must immediately destroy all copies unless it is exculpatory evidence required by law, and must log and report the incident to the Privacy Advisory Commission at its next meeting and then to the City Council.
Violations & Fines
Chapter 9.64 doesn't set a criminal fine for a Section 9.64.045 violation; the prohibition is absolute rather than permit-based. Any staff use, request or retention of facial recognition or predictive-policing output outside the narrow inadvertent-receipt exception in Subsection C is itself the violation, and the required remedy is immediate destruction of the data plus a written report to the Privacy Advisory Commission and City Council documenting how further transmission was prevented.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can Oakland police use facial recognition software at all?
What if an officer accidentally receives facial-recognition data from another agency?
Does the ban also cover predictive policing tools?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Oakland
California rules heatmap·Compare Oakland to another location·View the California privacy & surveillance overview
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