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Debating the role of facial recognition technology in Mass.

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A man watches as a visitor tries out a facial recognition display at a booth for Chinese tech firm Ping'an Technology at the Global Mobile Internet Conference (GMIC) in Beijing on April 26, 2018. (Mark Schiefelbein/AP)
A man watches as a visitor tries out a facial recognition display at a booth for Chinese tech firm Ping'an Technology at the Global Mobile Internet Conference (GMIC) in Beijing on April 26, 2018. (Mark Schiefelbein/AP)

This is the Radio Boston rundown for March 23. Tiziana Dearing is our host.

  • The Commonwealth is rethinking use of facial recognition technology in law enforcement. Right now, at least nine law enforcement offices and departments use it, as well as offices of some federal agencies, drawing mostly on an RMV database and FBI resources. The 2020 police reform law established a commission to make recommendations about its uses and limitations. That 173-page report came out yesterday, with thirteen recommendations intended to "balance law enforcement’s use of the technology to solve crimes with civil liberty protections." Not everyone agreed with the report in full, however. We discuss with Cape and Islands DA Michael O'Keefe, who dissented, and Kade Crockford, Director of the Technology for Liberty Program at the ACLU of Massachusetts.
  • For the first time ever, the American Red Cross, which contributes an estimated 40% of the national supply of blood and blood components, has declared a national blood shortage crisis. Despite the current shortage, men who have sex with other men still face extra hurdles in order to donate blood. We discuss with Dr. Carl Streed, physician, assistant professor at the Boston University School of Medicine, and Research Lead for the Center for Transgender Medicine and Surgery at Boston Medical Center.
  • Panamanian-born and Boston-based jazz pianist and composer Danilo Pérez is out with a new album, "Crisálida." The Grammy-award winning artist says he mixes musical styles spanning from South America to the Middle East to evoke a reality without borders. We hear from Pérez and his wife, Patricia Pérez , a Chilean saxophonist and vocalist.

This program aired on March 23, 2022.

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