ACLU wants more information about downtown Lakelands facial recognition cameras [Video]

LAKELAND, Fla. (WFLA) —The ACLU has taken action to get more information about downtown Lakeland’s new surveillance program that uses facial recognition technology.

“The things we do know right now about this face recognition surveillance camera network are extremely troubling but there’s a lot we don’t know,” said Nate Freed Wessler, the deputy director of ACLU’s Speech, Privacy and Technology project.

The Lakeland Downtown Development Authority, a public entity that advocates for businesses in downtown Lakeland, is in the process of installing more than a dozen new surveillance cameras downtown.

Facial recognition cameras in downtown Lakeland ‘hyper-focused’ on specific individuals

According to the LDAA, the cameras are focused on three specific people who have a history of trespassing at multiple businesses and the farmers’ market or threatening and intimidating an employee. The cameras are equipped with facial recognition technology that alerts officials when they are detected.

“We’re hyper-focused on folks who have been …