Bill Text: NY S07944 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Prohibits the use of biometric identifying technology in schools for any reason other than specified purposes.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-05-07 - REPORTED AND COMMITTED TO EDUCATION [S07944 Detail]
Download: New_York-2023-S07944-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 7944 IN SENATE January 4, 2024 ___________ Introduced by Sen. HOYLMAN-SIGAL -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Internet and Technol- ogy AN ACT to amend the state technology law, in relation to banning the use of biometric identifying technology in schools The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subdivisions 2, 3 and 4 of section 106-b of the state tech- 2 nology law, as added by chapter 2 of the laws of 2021, are amended to 3 read as follows: 4 2. a. Except as authorized in paragraph b of this subdivision, public 5 and nonpublic elementary and secondary schools, including charter 6 schools, shall be prohibited from purchasing or utilizing biometric 7 identifying technology for any purpose, including school security[,8until July first, two thousand twenty-two or until the commissioner of9education authorizes such purchase or utilization as provided in subdi-10vision three of this section, whichever occurs later]. 11 b. Schools may utilize biometric identifying technology for the 12 following purposes: (i) fingerprint identification of prospective school 13 employees where utilized for the purpose of compliance with a provision 14 of the education law or the regulations of the commissioner of education 15 or (ii) to exclusively identify employees that have consented in writing 16 to the use of such technology or in the case of employees represented 17 under article fourteen of the civil service law, where the employee 18 organization representing such employee has consented in writing to the 19 use of such technology. 20 [3. a. The commissioner of education shall not authorize the purchase21or utilization of biometric identifying technology, including but not22limited to facial recognition technology, without the director first23issuing a report prepared in consultation with the state education24department, making recommendations as to the circumstances in which the25utilization of such technology is appropriate in public and nonpublic26elementary and secondary schools, including charter schools, and what27restrictions and guidelines should be enacted to protect individualEXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD13591-01-3S. 7944 2 1privacy, civil rights, and civil liberty interests. Such report shall be2made public and presented to the governor, the temporary president of3the senate, and the speaker of the assembly, and shall consider, evalu-4ate and present recommendations concerning:5i. the privacy implications of collecting, storing, and/or sharing6biometric information of students, teachers, school personnel and the7general public entering a school or school grounds;8ii. the potential impact of the use of biometric identifying technolo-9gy on student civil liberties and student civil rights, including the10risks and implications of the technology resulting in false facial iden-11tifications, and whether the risks of false facial identifications12differs for different subgroups of individuals based on race, national13origin, gender, age and other factors, and any other reasonable accuracy14concerns with respect to technology;15iii. whether, and under what circumstances, such technology may be16used for school security and the effectiveness of such technology to17protect students and school personnel;18iv. whether, and under what circumstances and in what manner, informa-19tion collected may be used by schools and shared with students, parents20or guardians, outside agencies including law enforcement agencies, indi-21viduals, litigants, the courts, and any other third parties;22v. the length of time biometric information may be retained and wheth-23er, and in what manner, such information may be required to be perma-24nently destroyed;25vi. the risk of an unauthorized breach of biometric information and26appropriate consequences therefor;27vii. expected maintenance costs resulting from the storage and use of28facial recognition images and other biometric information, including the29cost of appropriately securing sensitive data, performing required30updates to protect against an unauthorized breach of data, and potential31costs associated with an unauthorized breach of data;32viii. analysis of other schools and organizations, if any, that have33implemented facial recognition technology and other biometric identify-34ing technology programs;35ix. the appropriateness and potential implications of using any exist-36ing databases, including but not limited to, local law enforcement data-37bases, as part of biometric identifying technology;38x. whether, and in what manner such biometric identifying technology39should be assessed and audited, including but not limited to, vendor40datasets, adherence to appropriate standards of algorithmic fairness,41accuracy, and other performance metrics, including with respect to42subgroups of persons based on race, national origin, gender, and age;43xi. whether, and in what manner, the use of such technology should be44disclosed by signs and the like in such schools, as well as communicated45to parents, guardians, students, and district residents; and46xii. existing legislation, including but not limited to section two-d47of the education law, that may be implicated by or in conflict with48biometric technology to ensure the maintenance of records related to the49use of such technology, protect the privacy interests of data subjects,50and avoid any breaches of data.51b. The director, in consultation with the commissioner of education,52shall consult with stakeholders and other interested parties when53preparing such report. The state education department, the division of54criminal justice services, law enforcement authorities and the state55university of New York and the city university of New York shall, to the56extent practicable, identify and provide representatives to the officeS. 7944 3 1of information technology, at the request of the director, in order to2participate in the development and drafting of such report.34. The director shall, via scheduled public hearings and other4outreach methods, seek feedback from teachers, school administrators,5parents, individuals with expertise in school safety and security, and6individuals with expertise in data privacy issues and student privacy7issues, and individuals with expertise in civil rights and civil liber-8ties prior to making such recommendations.] 9 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.