Montana Code 44-15-105. Prohibition of facial recognition technology
44-15-105. Prohibition of facial recognition technology. (1) Except as provided in 44-15-106 and 44-15-108, a state or local government agency, law enforcement agency, public employee, or public official may not:
Terms Used In Montana Code 44-15-105
- Continuous facial surveillance: means the monitoring of public places or third-party image sets using facial recognition technology for facial identification to match faces with a prepopulated list of face images. See Montana Code 44-15-103
- facial recognition technology: means the use of facial identification or facial verification. See Montana Code 44-15-103
- Law enforcement agency: means :
(a)an agency or officer of the state of Montana or of a political subdivision that is empowered by the laws of this state to conduct investigations or to make arrests; and
(b)an attorney, including the attorney general, who is authorized by the laws of this state to prosecute or to participate in the prosecution of a person who is arrested or who may be subject to a civil action related to or concerning an arrest. See Montana Code 44-15-103
- Motor vehicle division: means the division within the department of justice authorized to issue driver's licenses. See Montana Code 44-15-103
- Public employee: means a person employed by a state or local government agency, including but not limited to a peace officer. See Montana Code 44-15-103
- Public official: means a person elected or appointed to a public office that is part of a state or local government agency. See Montana Code 44-15-103
- State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Montana Code 1-1-201
- State or local government agency: means a state, county, or municipal government, a department, agency, or subdivision of a state, county, or municipal government, or any other entity identified in law as a public instrumentality. See Montana Code 44-15-103
(a)obtain, retain, possess, access, request, or use facial recognition technology or information derived from a search using facial recognition technology;
(b)enter into an agreement with a third-party vendor for any purpose listed in subsection (1)(a); or
(c)install or equip a continuous facial surveillance monitoring camera on public buildings or on public roads and highways of this state, except as provided in 46-5-117.
(2)The motor vehicle division may not establish a digital driver’s license program that utilizes facial recognition technology without the consent of the legislature.