Security News > 2023 > September > NYC rights groups say no to grocery store spycams and snooping landlords

"New Yorkers should not be forced to accept biometric surveillance as part of simple activities like buying groceries or taking their kids to a baseball game," more than 30 civil and digital rights organizations said yesterday in a letter backing new privacy laws in the city.

The New York Civil Liberties Union, the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, Amnesty International and others wrote a memo of support for two pending state bills that aim to ban facial recognition and other biometric tech both in public spaces, such as shops and arenas, and in residential buildings.

The groups point out that biometric technology, including facial recognition, can be "Biased, error-prone, and harmful to marginalized communities."

The first bill, 1014-2023, would stop any place or provider of public accommodation from using "Any biometric recognition technology to verify or identify a customer, prohibit businesses from barring entry to customers based on FRT, and prohibit companies from selling customers' biometric data."

The second, 1024-2023, focuses on the use of facial recog and other biometric surveillance in "Residential settings." The groups claim that "Landlords will abuse this tech to justify evicting tenants from rent-stabilized units because the facial recognition technology system determines they were not at home often enough." They add: "In fact, vendors have already begun to advertise this technology. In public housing, its use has led to residents being evicted for minor violations of policy."

Under the upcoming AI Act, the European Union adopted a draft text earlier this year that includes a complete ban on the use of AI for biometric surveillance, emotion recognition, and predictive policing.

News URL

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2023/09/27/nyc_biometrics_ban/