Facial recognition requests, reports, and associated materials (Boston Regional Intelligence Center (BRIC))

Dear Dave Gershgorn
Thank you for your interest in public records of Boston Police Department. Your request has been received and is being processed. Your request was received in this office on 1/7/2021 3:19:21 PM and given the reference number B000032-010721 for tracking purposes.
If this is a media request, please contact the Office of Media Relations directly at 617.343.4520.
Boston Regional Intelligence Center (BRIC)
PRL Office
1 Schroeder Plaza
Boston, MA 02120

January 7, 2021

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Massachusetts Public Records Law, I hereby request the following records:

- All requests for facial recognition searches and associated reports made by local, county, state, or federal law enforcement. This can be in the form of email requests to individuals or agency email accounts, including entire email threads and attachments, as well as requests submitted through a standardized form or web portal. Please limit the scope of this portion of the request to January 1, 2020, to December 31, 2020.

-Log files detailing search usage exported from the agency’s facial recognition databases. Please limit the scope of this portion of the request to January 1, 2020, to December 31, 2020.

- Any reports (weekly, monthly, annual, or otherwise), presentations, spreadsheets, or memoranda relating to, or referencing, the volume or efficacy of facial recognition searches. Please limit the scope of this portion of the request to January 1, 2019, to December 31, 2020.

- All training materials for the use of facial recognition technology.

- The privacy policy that governs this agencies’ use of facial recognition search tools. If there is no specific privacy policy for facial recognition, then I request any privacy policy for the use of biometric searches.

I am a member of the news media, and am requesting this information to disseminate it to the public. Transparent and ethical use of facial recognition technology by law enforcement is an important topic to the public, making this request newsworthy. The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.

Given my standing as a journalist and the scope of this request, I request a fee waiver and expedited processing of my request.

Please notify me if any portion of this request needs to be clarified. In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or USB drive if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter.

I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 10 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Dave Gershgorn

Filed via MuckRock.com
E-mail (Preferred): requests@muckrock.com
Upload documents directly: https://www.muckrock.com/
Is this email coming to the wrong contact? Something else wrong? Use the above link to let us know.

For mailed responses, please address (see note):
MuckRock News
DEPT MR 106541
411A Highland Ave
Somerville, MA 02144-2516

PLEASE NOTE: This request is not filed by a MuckRock staff member, but is being sent through MuckRock by the above in order to better track, share, and manage public records requests. Also note that improperly addressed (i.e., with the requester's name rather than "MuckRock News" and the department number) requests might be returned as undeliverable.
You can monitor the progress of your request at the link below and you'll receive an email when your request has been completed. Again, thank you for using the Public Records Center.
Director, Public Information
Boston Police Department

Track the issue status and respond at: https://bostonma.govqa.us/WEBAPP//_rs/RequestEdit.aspx?rid=7421 (https://u8387778.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=6HtRfOYLt5fXvpttM-2FU1HS4L-2FIgBDSrHGana-2FLpLlsjgEH-2BMm7DPdY3-2Bl9Nl4WumbCbgX7HeL3wE7Jso82hTYi4O8-2BmQ-2FQSZJCA2ErAS2cI-3Df6-I_x8yBBsPPkRtUuKGu074iSHTcB03RZT1k-2BSM14zZA5DG9FG6vGJpjVepxJiQ-2Bt-2FmywPjxq5BGsxnNiZX-2BktSd3bHNHFy7kPBBQhIMSbU7aNiRpf51ki53LBmm3UH83K-2BsEnOoz-2Fir9nuOPifvDaTB2U71nKTNeS9-2FgYfG4lLRq2Sie-2BjfbtNgPXgfzj11dgIKelPCJTuqR5qODaCLsivhl9Jmq-2FNIHVmyamik3qX9T52806-2FZ-2Fb4HrXKafptMbflmQC0kA4zXblof9x5ieC7O2NswpGXrWgR94I1tD2wBaXVzxNrIl-2FnI8GqaC1TOGCXiVtPYL-2BXGzXapRhh1OzX1HMi9rDdyknlIE4CrNTBDR5yhKFAG-2F5oKBpzp1SlMkCK53ZPycvhmQP4-2FjYxGVZOekQ-3D-3D)

Dear Dave Gershgorn,

Thank you for registering with the Records Center.  Please log in to the Records Center to update any contact or password information and to track the progress of your request.

Login: requests@muckrock.com

If you have never used this system or cannot remember your password you may request a temporary password here: Request Temporary Password (https://u4037834.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=NsSD9AJ7NC1Zn9x435-2BIaD8pUIT9sjw0zRkA1kt09GsJblwcw027D62niuBmAtDJUuQLUMPBYRTUJI8XOtGiuHnyMOfySplfb6-2FnV581IwE-3DSxkf_x8yBBsPPkRtUuKGu074iSHTcB03RZT1k-2BSM14zZA5DG9FG6vGJpjVepxJiQ-2Bt-2Fmyo7s-2BwAV48Jw1QCEWNrZ-2BjotWEz5LrtgJ6Zm1nM9aupHhuSyMS69Rbqj-2FOKIOeOhSeBU8q-2BekhuCYFVCi0ssqX-2FKOB6cCkjgOrD6fkEgHAevbab-2FV-2FC7pbiAyKB8vqlO8ZcTfR46uLiMqoHJDjGSLDCLgTLG4nBWPpr-2BSDPKjgD4xa8hRw2KDHoN0cUHTiSKw)

This is an auto-generated email and has originated from an unmonitored email account. Please DO NOT REPLY.

--- Please respond above this line ---

Dave,
The Boston Police Department does not utilize Facial Recognition. Therefore there are no records responsive to your request.
Thanks.
To monitor the progress or update this request please log into the Public Records Center. (https://u8387778.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=6HtRfOYLt5fXvpttM-2FU1HS4L-2FIgBDSrHGana-2FLpLlsj8PZ-2B8QPjL1HPo2g1qgKLwXvbvIcqX6KFSHItv6e7TxLVx199cjdyPbPlnmgCTb4s-3D2VUL_x8yBBsPPkRtUuKGu074iSHTcB03RZT1k-2BSM14zZA5DG9FG6vGJpjVepxJiQ-2Bt-2FmywPjxq5BGsxnNiZX-2BktSd3fu3DQ0MbrXOrTkL2aox62J8VKaEK9y4KP3r23EE7OR3Y6i3F7Po12KLfBxZuG5OvqwxHSxAv0NSE6oG1Oman5pkhh4NOUa-2BU5-2BPZyFtDDX7kFdgd648F4Q8q-2FzN2-2BlfpRSqye5aFSSD20Jtb73WmMnEEKlZu-2F2A3g3ZQcD47Y7PSPZmo156uOu-2B6s1KsF2hJK6wBww0ElgmWAuFugF0Jwpmn4-2FXl7eeEq5LRRXcTQgBO02q4f1g1bwYnYN0mD1kFrc6qBwhz0tfhnjODE-2Be2T-2BnWzzgL1K6-2BmJ97pxeAqi-2BnY6Uc5aXlKTBy-2FCBEPQWSQ-3D-3D)