San Jose's Surveillance Technology Use Policy ordinance requires City Council approval, public hearings, and an annual audit before any city department deploys facial recognition, ALPRs, predictive policing, or similar tools. The ordinance has functioned as a de facto check on facial recognition since adoption.
San Jose adopted a Digital Privacy Policy and Surveillance-Use Policy framework in 2017 and strengthened it in subsequent updates, requiring every city department to obtain Council approval of a written use policy and impact report before acquiring or deploying surveillance technology. Covered tools include facial recognition, automated license plate readers (ALPRs), social-media monitoring, predictive-policing systems, drones, body cameras, and biometric systems. The ordinance requires annual audits and public reporting. SJPD has not deployed face-recognition for routine investigations under this framework. The ordinance does not directly bind private businesses, which remain governed by California's CCPA, CPRA, and BIPA-style face-template rules under Civil Code §1798.99.30.
City staff deploying covered surveillance tech without an approved Council use policy face discipline and may be barred from using the data in court. Civil society groups can sue under enforcement provisions, and the City Auditor publishes annual compliance findings.
San Jose, CA
San Jose Police Department operates automated license plate readers under California Civil Code §1798.90 (SB-34) data security requirements and the city's Su...
San Jose, CA
San Jose has no specific ordinance regulating residential security cameras. California law permits video recording on your own property and in public. Camera...
See how San Jose's facial recognition ban rules stack up against other locations.
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