Who uses facial recognition in Butte County?
- Approved Facial recognition
- Agency
- Butte County Sheriff's Office
- Vendor
- Clearview AI
- Devices
- —
-
- Agency
- Chico Unified School District
- Vendor
- —
- Devices
- —
| System | Agency | Vendor | Status | Devices |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Facial recognition | Butte County Sheriff's Office | Clearview AI | Approved | — |
| Campus cameras with facial recognition | Chico Unified School District | — | Approved | — |
What we do not know
Butte County Sheriff
- The contents of PO-1620 and the justification form, including cost, term, and what was bought.
- Any policy governing use, the users, and search logs.
Chico Unified
- The December 2025 consent item, the vendor agreement and its data terms.
- The camera count by school and the installation status.
- The May 2026 vote reported to limit the system to vehicle recognition.
What facial recognition is
Software that measures a face in an image and searches for a match in a database of known faces. It can be run on live camera feeds or on recorded footage after the fact.
How they work, why agencies buy them, and every county we have documented →
What you can do
Civic action
Show up
This technology is bought and renewed by boards, councils and committees that meet in public. We have not yet confirmed where each of them meets in Butte County.
Go to the Butte County hub →Personal protection
Protect yourself
Practical steps to shrink your personal data trail. Our guides publish at launch; until then, EFF's Surveillance Self-Defense is the best starting point.
Surveillance Self-Defense ↗