Bill Text: NY S09643 | 2025-2026 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Prohibits the use of biometric identifying technology in schools for any reason other than certain specified purposes.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4)

Status: (Engrossed) 2026-06-01 - referred to education [S09643 Detail]

Download: New_York-2025-S09643-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          9643

                    IN SENATE

                                     March 31, 2026
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  Sens. LIU, FERNANDEZ, JACKSON, SALAZAR -- read twice and
          ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee  on
          Internet and Technology

        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[,
     8  until  July  first, two thousand twenty-two or until the commissioner of
     9  education authorizes such purchase or utilization as provided in  subdi-
    10  vision 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)  fingerprint  identification of teachers, administrators and
    16  students for the purpose of securely logging into a digital  device  for
    17  academic  and  administrative purposes; or (iii) to exclusively identify
    18  employees that have consented in writing to the use of  such  technology
    19  or  in  the  case of employees represented under article fourteen of the
    20  civil service law, where the  employee  organization  representing  such
    21  employee has consented in writing to the use of such technology.
    22    [3.  a. The commissioner of education shall not authorize the purchase
    23  or utilization of biometric identifying technology,  including  but  not
    24  limited  to  facial  recognition  technology, without the director first
    25  issuing a report prepared  in  consultation  with  the  state  education
    26  department,  making recommendations as to the circumstances in which the
    27  utilization of such technology is appropriate in  public  and  nonpublic

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD07150-04-6
        S. 9643                             2

     1  elementary  and  secondary  schools, including charter schools, and what
     2  restrictions and guidelines should  be  enacted  to  protect  individual
     3  privacy, civil rights, and civil liberty interests. Such report shall be
     4  made  public  and  presented to the governor, the temporary president of
     5  the senate, and the speaker of the assembly, and shall consider,  evalu-
     6  ate and present recommendations concerning:
     7    i.  the  privacy  implications  of collecting, storing, and/or sharing
     8  biometric information of students, teachers, school  personnel  and  the
     9  general public entering a school or school grounds;
    10    ii. the potential impact of the use of biometric identifying technolo-
    11  gy  on  student  civil liberties and student civil rights, including the
    12  risks and implications of the technology resulting in false facial iden-
    13  tifications, and whether  the  risks  of  false  facial  identifications
    14  differs  for  different subgroups of individuals based on race, national
    15  origin, gender, age and other factors, and any other reasonable accuracy
    16  concerns with respect to technology;
    17    iii. whether, and under what circumstances,  such  technology  may  be
    18  used  for  school  security  and the effectiveness of such technology to
    19  protect students and school personnel;
    20    iv. whether, and under what circumstances and in what manner, informa-
    21  tion collected may be used by schools and shared with students,  parents
    22  or guardians, outside agencies including law enforcement agencies, indi-
    23  viduals, litigants, the courts, and any other third parties;
    24    v. the length of time biometric information may be retained and wheth-
    25  er,  and  in  what manner, such information may be required to be perma-
    26  nently destroyed;
    27    vi. the risk of an unauthorized breach of  biometric  information  and
    28  appropriate consequences therefor;
    29    vii.  expected maintenance costs resulting from the storage and use of
    30  facial recognition images and other biometric information, including the
    31  cost of  appropriately  securing  sensitive  data,  performing  required
    32  updates to protect against an unauthorized breach of data, and potential
    33  costs associated with an unauthorized breach of data;
    34    viii.  analysis  of other schools and organizations, if any, that have
    35  implemented facial recognition technology and other biometric  identify-
    36  ing technology programs;
    37    ix. the appropriateness and potential implications of using any exist-
    38  ing databases, including but not limited to, local law enforcement data-
    39  bases, as part of biometric identifying technology;
    40    x.  whether,  and in what manner such biometric identifying technology
    41  should be assessed and audited, including but  not  limited  to,  vendor
    42  datasets,  adherence  to  appropriate standards of algorithmic fairness,
    43  accuracy, and other  performance  metrics,  including  with  respect  to
    44  subgroups of persons based on race, national origin, gender, and age;
    45    xi.  whether, and in what manner, the use of such technology should be
    46  disclosed by signs and the like in such schools, as well as communicated
    47  to parents, guardians, students, and district residents; and
    48    xii. existing legislation, including but not limited to section  two-d
    49  of  the  education  law,  that  may be implicated by or in conflict with
    50  biometric technology to ensure the maintenance of records related to the
    51  use of such technology, protect the privacy interests of data  subjects,
    52  and avoid any breaches of data.
    53    b.  The  director, in consultation with the commissioner of education,
    54  shall consult  with  stakeholders  and  other  interested  parties  when
    55  preparing  such  report. The state education department, the division of
    56  criminal justice services, law enforcement  authorities  and  the  state
        S. 9643                             3

     1  university of New York and the city university of New York shall, to the
     2  extent  practicable,  identify and provide representatives to the office
     3  of information technology, at the request of the director, in  order  to
     4  participate in the development and drafting of such report.
     5    4.  The  director  shall,  via  scheduled  public  hearings  and other
     6  outreach methods, seek feedback from  teachers,  school  administrators,
     7  parents,  individuals  with expertise in school safety and security, and
     8  individuals with expertise in data privacy issues  and  student  privacy
     9  issues,  and individuals with expertise in civil rights and civil liber-
    10  ties prior to making such recommendations.]
    11    § 2.  This act shall take effect immediately.