Nice to see a Democratic city make this move; though I've not heard
of any protests there against Oregon's mask mandate, or the abusive
conditions in Portland's "reopened" schools, where all the children,
black and white, must wear masks, and stay six feet apart. 

This ban is a woke measure, in response to the distrust of city government 
among "BIPOC communities." So the police state is okay, as long as it's
maintained to maximize "biosecurity," and doesn't interfere with "Social Justice."
But real social justice isn't served by making black people (as well as white
people) where masks, whether they're healthy, or—especially—if they have
asthma, diabetes or any other conditions that make masking hazardous.
(Asthma and diabetes afflict many more black people than white people.)

And, if and when it's ready, the COVID-19 vaccine will, no doubt, be rolled 
out in Oregon, aggressively, for all—with black people among the first to get
injected, as if that experimental vaccine will be good for them. And Oregon
is pushing universal flu shots, despite the heightened risk of acute
respiratory infection. And so it goes.

MCM 

Portland’s Face-Recognition Ban Is a New Twist on ‘Smart Cities’
https://zero5g.com/2020/portlands-face-recognition-ban-is-a-new-twist-on-smart-cities/

September 21, 2020 |  by Tom Simonite | Wired.com |

“The first big US city to prohibit private businesses from using the technology reflects rising skepticism of new tools and concerns about fairness.”

PHOTOGRAPH: ALEX MILAN TRACY/SIPA/AP

 

“PORTLAND’S 2016 ENTRY for a $50 million federal contest called the Smart City Challenge described a Pacific Northwest tech-topia. It promised autonomous shuttles, trucks, and cars on city streets, through partnerships with Daimler and Lyft. Sensors from Alphabet’s Sidewalk Labs would monitor people walking and biking around the city to analyze traffic patterns.

The Rose City didn’t win, and four years later there are no self-driving Lyfts on its streets. One thing that has changed: Portland’s conception of what makes a city smart.

This month, Portland adopted the nation’s most restrictive laws on face recognition, banning private as well as government use of the technology. The new rules originated in part from a small city office called Smart City PDX that has sought to redefine the buzzword it is named for. Instead of hunting for “smart” new tech, it aims to mediate tech’s impact on citizens. “The focus became the work we need to do before we deploy new technology, especially in BIPOC communities who don’t trust the city to necessarily represent their interests,” says Kevin Martin, who leads Smart City PDX.

Click on the link for the rest.