He's right to an extent, but face recognition is instant, silent, works from a distance, allows near perfect identification of a specific individual in many cas

He's right to an extent, but face recognition is instant, silent, works from a distance, allows near perfect identification of a specific individual in many cases, and is particularly onerous on the individual to evade compared to other forms of tracking. That makes it entirely reasonable to single out and ban it, whilst also thinking about and pushing for further curbs on surveillance.