A revolution is happening in government surveillance, and we are a part of it whether we like it or not.
This growth of new and invasive technology includes body scanners at airports, facial recognition cameras, and artificial intelligence software that links it all together. Despite Utah’s reverence for privacy, our state is not exempt from this trend.
In May, we learned that Utah’s attorney general signed an agreement with a company to promote testing of 3D body-scanners at Utah sporting events, schools and public events. Then, in July, The Washington Post reported how Utah’s Department of Public Safety scanned every Utah driver’s license photo thousands of times between 2015 and 2017 with facial recognition software at the request of the FBI, ICE and police agencies.