Worcester, MA Privacy & Surveillance: Facial Recognition Ban (2026)

Chapter Two, Section 41 of the Revised Ordinances of 2008, ordained December 14, 2021 as ordinance #923, makes it unlawful for the City of Worcester or any "Worcester official" (defined to include any officer, employee, agent, contractor, subcontractor, or vendor acting on the city's behalf) to knowingly obtain, retain, request, access, or use any facial surveillance system, or any information obtained from one. "Facial surveillance" is defined as an automated or semi-automated process that assists in identifying or verifying an individual based on the physical characteristics of that person's face.

The ordinance also imposes an evidentiary rule: no data collected or derived from facial surveillance used in violation of the ordinance, and no evidence derived from it, may be used in any proceeding before any city department, officer, agency, regulatory body, legislative committee or other authority under the City's jurisdiction. , unlocking a phone); using social media or communications software to reach the public as long as that use does not affirmatively deploy facial surveillance; using automated redaction software that lacks facial surveillance capability; and complying with the National Child Search Assistance Act. The ordinance states it does not limit any individual's rights under state or federal law.