NY State Education Department Bans Facial Recognition Technology

In late September, the NY State Education Department issued a two-page order providing that NY public schools may not purchase or utilize facial recognition technology. The Department relied on a report issued by the NY Office of Information Technology Services in August that was critical of the privacy implications of facial recognition technology, but left open the door for the use of other types of biometric technology in schools.

The Department's actions followed on litigation that began in 2020 after an upstate school district began implementing a facial recognition system intended to identify potentially threatening non-students on school premises. After the litigation began, the state legislature enacted a moratorium on facial recognition technology while the State Education Department and Office of Information Technology Services conducted further research and issued a final decision.