N.Y. State Tech. Law § 106-B Use of Biometric Identifying Technology In Schools

• Library: New York Statutes
• Edition: 2023
• Currency: Current through 2023 NY Law Chapter 682

1. As used in this section:

a. "biometric identifying technology" shall mean any tool using an automated or semi-automated process that assists in verifying a person's identity based on a person's biometric information.

b. "biometric information" shall mean any measurable physical, physiological or behavioral characteristics that are attributable to a person, including but not limited to facial characteristics, fingerprint characteristics, hand characteristics, eye characteristics, vocal characteristics, and any other characteristics that can be used to identify a person including, but are not limited to: fingerprints; handprints; retina and iris patterns; DNA sequence; voice; gait; and facial geometry.

c. "facial recognition" shall mean any tool using an automated or semi-automated process that assists in uniquely identifying or verifying a person by comparing and analyzing patterns based on the person's face.

2.

a. Except as authorized in paragraph b of this subdivision, public and nonpublic elementary and secondary schools, including charter schools, shall be prohibited from purchasing or utilizing biometric identifying technology for any purpose, including school security, until July first, two thousand twenty-two or until the commissioner of education authorizes such purchase or utilization as provided in subdivision three of this section, whichever occurs later.

b. Schools may utilize biometric identifying technology for the following purposes:

(i) fingerprint identification of prospective school employees where utilized for the purpose of compliance with a provision of the education law or the regulations of the commissioner of education or

(ii) to exclusively identify employees that have consented in writing to the use of such technology or in the case of employees represented under article fourteen of the civil service law, where the employee organization representing such employee has consented in writing to the use of such technology.

3.

a. The commissioner of education shall not authorize the purchase or utilization of biometric identifying technology, including but not limited to facial recognition technology, without the director first issuing a report prepared in consultation with the state education department, making recommendations as to the circumstances in which the utilization of such technology is appropriate in public and nonpublic elementary and secondary schools, including charter schools, and what restrictions and guidelines should be enacted to protect individual privacy, civil rights, and civil liberty interests. Such report shall be made public and presented to the governor, the temporary president of the senate, and the speaker of the assembly, and shall consider, evaluate and present recommendations concerning: