ALAMEDA — Alameda has become the latest city to ban the use of facial recognition technology, saying its potential abuse by law enforcement could undermine civil liberties.

Alameda police will not be prohibited, however, from working with data developed through the technology if it comes from an outside agency seeking help with an investigation, such as the FBI searching for a bank robber, under a policy the City Council unanimously adopted Tuesday.

“It implicates your right not to be treated as a suspect by having your face logged into a database,” Matt Cagle, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, said about the controversial technology.

The technology uses software to compare selected facial features from a digital image or video frame with faces within a database to determine the individual’s identity.

Oakland, Berkeley and San Francisco also have banned the use of the technology.

In October, California lawmakers passed a law that prohibits police statewide from using facial recognition in body cameras through January 2023.

It happened after Assemblyman Phil Ting, D-San Francisco, who co-sponsored the bill, was among 26 state legislators falsely identified as criminals when their portraits were run through a facial database under an ACLU test of the software.

“It doesn’t work,” Alameda Vice Mayor John Knox White said. “The technology is not even close to being ready for discussion.”

But the software also has its supporters. Apple launched facial technology in 2017 as a way for customers to unlock or quickly make payments on their iPhone X.

And many big airports now use the software to scan passengers on international flights to speed up boarding lines, rather than have gate agents decide whether an individual is the same person who appears on a passport or driver’s license photo.

The Alameda council adopted its ban as part of a resolution establishing policies that lay out guidelines on how the city protects people’s privacy and manages the public’s personal information.

Council members said the resolution was a first step and they want ordinances drafted that will allow for enforcement to prevent the policies from being sidestepped or ignored.

“I think we need to have legally enforced safeguards,” Councilwoman Malia Vella said.

Mayor Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft said as an Arab American she recognized how that community experienced law enforcement surveillance and harassment following the 9/11 attacks.

But Ashcraft also said people are concerned about crime and support ways to stop it, including through technology.

“We need to consider all the different interests,” the mayor said. “I don’t think they are mutually exclusive.”