(WXYZ) — So just how private is your everyday life?
There are traffic cameras on the road, security cameras on buildings and chances are some of your neighbors have them too.
But in Detroit there's controversy not on cameras, but the facial recognition programs people can use with them.
It comes down to privacy – and this is a debate that centers on how these images of everyday people will be collected, stored and used by police.
Detroit police saw a large crowd and faced questions Thursday night.
Earlier this year, a report from Georgetown pointed out that Detroit's one of two departments nationwide with the ability to use that tech in real-time. Though police say they’re not doing it — they say it’s being used on still images in the most severe cases: robberies, rapes and homicides.
“Even if it came back with a positive hit… it’s not the sole identified. This is a layer approach to help us identify a perpetrator," said Assistant Chief James White.
“While their intent in their policy tells it will only be used to investigate serious crimes… the problem is once you have that input there’s only one small step to change the system in which people can be tracked, followed.”
It's not just locals that are concerned – there's been debates about this on Capitol Hill. Congress is asking questions about the legality of facial recognition software.
