N.Y. Senate Panel Seeks to Ban Biometrics in Schools
A New York Senate panel on Wednesday supported restricting biometric identifying technology in schools. The Senate Internet and Technology Committee voted by voice at a livestreamed meeting to advance S-3827 to the Education Committee.
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The stated purpose of the bill by Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal (D) is to “implement a legislative ban on the use and purchase of certain biometric identifying technology, such as facial recognition technology, to protect student privacy, avoid biased and discriminatory surveillance and disciplinary practices, and prevent unnecessary data collection which risks leaks of private personally identifiable student information.”
“Although the proponents of biometric identifying technology claim the use of facial recognition technology promotes school safety, facial recognition technology has not been proven to improve school safety,” says the bill. “Instead, it unnecessarily infringes upon student, faculty, and visitor privacy.” In addition, such technology “has shown a tendency to misidentify people of color and exacerbate pre-existing racially discriminatory practices.”
The bill would let schools use biometric identifying technology for “fingerprint identification of prospective school employees” and “to exclusively identify employees that have consented in writing to the use of such technology” or whose representative employee organization has consented.
The Assembly has a similar bill (A-6720) pending in its own Education Committee.