A coalition of civil rights and civil liberties groups, provided with advance copies of the Georgetown report, plans to deliver a sharply worded letter to the Justice Department’s civil rights division on Tuesday calling for investigation into the use — and possible abuse — of facial-recognition technology.

The groups note the technology’s deployment during protests after the police-involved death of a black man in Baltimore and warn that unregulated use could make African Americans reluctant to attend events where facial images might be captured, chilling their rights to free speech and assembly. The report said protesters arrested for minor crimes such as trespassing can end up in facial-recognition databases for their rest of their lives, exposing them to an enhanced level of police scrutiny even if charges were later dropped.

“Face recognition technology is rapidly being interconnected with everyday police activities, impacting virtually every jurisdiction in America. Yet, the safeguards to ensure this technology is being used fairly and responsibly appear to be virtually nonexistent,” wrote the American Civil Liberties Union and the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, an umbrella group with more than 200 member organizations. More than 40 civil rights and other groups signed the letter.