S.T.O.P. Welcomes NY Ban on Facial Recognition In Schools

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For Immediate Release

S.T.O.P. Welcomes NY Ban on Facial Recognition In Schools

[NEW YORK, NY, 07/22/2020] -- Today, the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (S.T.O.P.), a New York-based privacy group, welcomes the New York Legislature’s passage of a ban on facial recognition in schools. The bill, A06787/S05140, bans facial recognition and other biometric surveillance until 2022, and it comes in response to the planned launch of facial recognition by the Lockport City School District.

SEE: A06787/S05140 Bill Text
https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2019/s5140

Schools are using facial recognition to try to stop shootings. Here’s why they should think twice.
https://www.vox.com/recode/2019/12/20/21028124/schools-facial-recognition-mass-shootings

“Facial recognition is biased and broken, and it has no place in the classroom,” said Surveillance Technology Oversight Project Executive Director Albert Fox Cahn. “We urge Governor Cuomo to sign this law. If used in schools, facial recognition will become yet another part of the surveillance-to-prison pipeline. Students of color shouldn’t have to fear arrest simply for showing their face in class. This technology is documented to be more error-prone for Black and Latin/X students, compounding the human bias they face every day. We also call on New York to go further and permanently ban all government use of facial recognition.”

The Surveillance Technology Oversight Project is a non-profit advocacy organization and legal services provider hosted by the Urban Justice Center. S.T.O.P. litigates and advocates for privacy, fighting excessive local and state-level surveillance. Our work highlights the discriminatory impact of surveillance on Muslim Americans, immigrants, and communities of color.

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PressGuest UserJuly 22, 2020