NY A6787: Directs the commissioner of education to conduct a study on the use of biometric identifying technology; prohibits the use of biometric identifying t…

In one paragraph

New York's A 6787-D barred public and nonpublic elementary and secondary schools, including charter schools, from buying or using biometric identifying technology until July 1, 2022 or until the Commissioner of Education authorized it after a public report, whichever was later. As signed it added Education Law § 2-e; Chapter 2 of 2021 moved it to State Technology Law § 106-b, had the Office of Information Technology Services write the report, and allowed employee fingerprinting and consenting-employee uses. In September 2023 the Commissioner banned facial recognition in schools and left other biometrics to local decision. Signed December 22, 2020 (Chapter 349); effective immediately.

Plain-English summary, written with AI assistance. The official text controls.

What it means for business

If you sell facial recognition to New York schools, they may not buy or use it under the Commissioner's September 2023 order; schools decide locally on other biometric tools after weighing privacy, civil rights, effectiveness and parental input.

Key provisions

1. 1As signed, adds Education Law § 2-e; biometric identifying technology is any tool using an automated or semi-automated process that assists in verifying a person's identity from biometric information (e.g. facial, fingerprint, hand, eye and voice characteristics, DNA, gait, facial geometry); facial recognition is defined separately
2. 2Public and nonpublic elementary and secondary schools, including charter schools, may not purchase or use biometric identifying technology for any purpose, including school security, until July 1, 2022 or until the Commissioner of Education authorizes it, whichever occurs later
3. 3As signed (§ 2-e), the Commissioner could not authorize it without first issuing a public report prepared with the department's chief privacy officer; under § 106-b the report is issued by the ITS director in consultation with the Education Department, made public and given to the Governor, Temporary President of the Senate and Assembly Speaker, with recommendations on when use is appropriate and what restrictions should protect privacy, civil rights and civil liberties
4. 4The report must cover 12 topics, including privacy of biometric data, false facial identification risks by race, national origin, gender and age, effectiveness for security, sharing with law enforcement, retention and destruction, breach risks, costs, auditing for algorithmic fairness, and notice to parents
5. 5Stakeholder consultation and public hearings seeking feedback from teachers, administrators, parents and experts in school safety, data privacy and civil rights: by the Commissioner as signed; under § 106-b, by the ITS director, who consults stakeholders in consultation with the Commissioner
6. 6Chapter amendment (Chapter 2 of 2021, A 954, signed January 28, 2021, effective as of the same date as Chapter 349): repeals Education Law § 2-e and re-enacts the moratorium as State Technology Law § 106-b, with the report moved to the Office of Information Technology Services (ITS) and exceptions for fingerprinting prospective school employees to comply with education law or regulations and for identifying employees who (or whose union) consent in writing
7. 7ITS issued its report August 7, 2023. The Commissioner's September 27, 2023 order bars schools from buying or using facial recognition until a superseding order; schools that bought it with Smart Schools Bond Act funds before December 20, 2020 must stop using it and certify; schools decide locally on other biometrics after weighing privacy, civil rights, effectiveness and parental input
8. 8Signed December 22, 2020 (Chapter 349 of 2020, with Approval Memo 53); effective immediately

Latest legislative action

Dec 22, 2020. Signed Chapter 349 of 2020 (Approval Memo 53)

Sponsors (showing 5 of 21)

Roll call votes (showing 3 of 5)

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