OPINION: Facial Recognition Tech Straight Out of 'Robocop' Could Be a Real Threat to Civil Liberties

As governments and law enforcement agencies rush to incorporate facial recognition tech, California lawmakers have a chance to slam on the brakes.

Nearly a decade ago, the spokesman for a company that produces Tasers and body cameras for police departments envisioned the day when "every cop is Robocop." He was referring to then-nascent facial-recognition software, which lets police nab suspects based on an image grabbed from a camera, and a science-fiction movie about crime-fighting cyborg cops.

Technology advances at such rapid speeds that such a day already is here in...