General Intelligence

New York May Soon Become the First State to Ban Facial Recognition in Schools

The bill calls for a comprehensive study of the technology ‘prior to spending millions of dollars on technology that may not make our children significantly safer’

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A two-year facial recognition ban in schools across New York state looks more and more likely, as a bill that passed both state legislatures on July 22 now heads to Governor Cuomo’s desk. If Cuomo signs the bill, New York would become the first state to explicitly regulate the use of facial recognition in schools.

The bill doesn’t take the hard-line stance on the technology that privacy advocates have called for, which would be an indefinite ban of all use of facial recognition. Instead, it just bans use of the technology in schools until July 2022. The bill specifies that the technology could be introduced in schools sooner if the New York commissioner of education produces a report outlining ways to implement the technology fairly and with minimal privacy impact.