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On December 22nd of 2020, Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York State signed the legislation banning the use of invasive facial surveillance technology in schools. By signing legislation (A6787-D/S5140-B), Governor Cuomo has suspended any type of biometric technology usage in schools. Instead, he has allowed for more time and resources to be allocated to the research into these potentially detrimental technologies for the safety of NYS students.
The Facial Recognition and Biometric Technology Moratorium Act of 2020 was first introduced in June of 2020 by Senators Edward Markey, D-Mass., and Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., and Representatives Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., and Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass. The bill was introduced one day after 42 year old Robert Williams, a Black man from Detroit was wrongfully arrested for shoplifting, due to a facial recognition system matching his driver’s license photo to an image taken from surveillance footage of a person shoplifting. Several studies conducted since have proved facial recognition technologies to be extremely racially biased, and therefore ineffective in many cases.
Along with racial bias, these facial recognition technology systems are also biased in gender. In the 2018 “Growing Shades” project, researchers from MIT and Stanford University analyzed three facial analysis programmes. Four groups of darker-skinned females, darker-skinned males, lighter-skinned females, and lighter-skinned males were subjects of the study. All three algorithms performed the worst on darker-skinned females, with error rates up to 34% higher than for lighter-skinned males. Similarly, a report by the National Institute of Standards and Technology found that algorithms had the highest error rates for Native Americans as well as high rates for Asian and Black women, being up to 100 times more likely to be misidentified than white male faces. It is no secret that facial recognition technology is severely biased against minorities, with women of color being particularly at risk. By signing this legislation banning facial recognition technology, the government aims to protect students, and even provide a possible solution to the school-to-prison-pipeline, since the misinformation in these databases often leads to wrongful convictions.
Stefanie Coyle is the Deputy Director of the Education Policy Center at the New York Civil Liberties Union. She believes "schools should be an environment where children can learn and grow, and the presence of a flawed and racially-biased system constantly monitoring students makes that impossible", particularly as "for children, whose appearances change rapidly as they grow, biometric technologies’ accuracy is even more questionable. False positives, where the wrong student is identified, can result in traumatic interactions with law enforcement, loss of class time, disciplinary action, and potentially a criminal record."
"Facial recognition technology could provide a host of benefits to New Yorkers, but its use brings up serious and legitimate privacy concerns that we have to examine, especially in schools," Governor Cuomo said. "This legislation requires state education policymakers to take a step back, consult with experts and address privacy issues before determining whether any kind of biometric identifying technology can be brought into New York's schools. The safety and security of our children is vital to every parent, and whether to use this technology is not a decision to be made lightly." The legislation places a moratorium on schools purchasing and using biometric identifying technology until at least July 1, 2022. During this time, studies on facial recognition technology will be conducted to decide whether it is safe and appropriate to be used in schools, and privacy concerns will also be investigated. Additionally, the state Office of Information Technology will work with the State Education Department to receive feedback from teachers and students, as well as experts in school safety, security, data collection and usage and student privacy issues.
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