We, the undersigned individuals urge the Council to pass Intro 0217-2024, prohibiting any place or provider of public accommodation from using biometric recognition technology, and Intro 0425-2024, prohibiting landlords from using such technology. Biometric recognition technology, including facial recognition technology (FRT), is biased, error-prone, and harmful to marginalized communities. It has no place in businesses and residences in New York City.

FRT discriminates against Black, Latinx, and non-binary or transgender New Yorkers. Human bias infects A.I. systems. Many FRT algorithms are up to 100-times more error-prone when deployed against young Black women compared to middle-aged white males. Allowing businesses and landlords to collect biometric information makes them an evenmore lucrative target for identity thieves and hackers. More dangerous than other personal identifiers like a social security number, biometric identifiers are static and are almost impossible to change. When a hacker acquires another person’s biometric data, it puts them at risk for identity theft for the rest of their lives.

INTRO 0217-2024
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. Yet this is the reality in our city, and it will continue to be until the Council passes this important legislation. Business use of FRT has faced increased scrutiny since James Dolan, the owner of Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corporation (MSG), started using the tech at MSG venues. Dolan uses FRT to block access to ticketholders affiliated with law firms involved in pending lawsuits against MSG. While Dolan’s antics are troubling, the harm caused by business use of FRT will be much more severe than stopping people from enjoying sports games and performances. Business use will reintroduce segregated stores and venues by excluding Black and dark-skinned people from stores due to incredibly common FR mismatches. Police will be called on innocent people, which will result in dangerous encounters and potentially unnecessary racialized violence. Expansion of FRT into private businesses also threatens the safety of interstate abortion-seekers, people seeking gender-affirming care, and immigrants, simply because they try to buy groceries. This technology is already being weaponized in New York City grocery stores with stores like Brooklyn Fare, Wegman's, and Westside Market scanning the face of every customer walking through their stores and storing that sensitive personal data indefinitely.

INTRO 0425-2024
Use of FRT and other biometric surveillance technologies in residential settings opens tenants and their guests to harassment and discriminatory eviction, and it compromises their privacy. New Yorkers do not want this invasive technology used in their homes, the most intimate of spaces. The racial bias of FRT will inevitably impede residents from accessing their home, locking them out due to erroneous matches, and may even put them in danger by eliciting an unwarranted law enforcement response. Collection of biometric data will be forced upon not just all residents, but any guests they have over as well, with Black, brown, Asian, and gender non-conforming guests barred from visiting their friends due to FRT mismatches, and potentially having law enforcement involved unnecessarily. Furthermore, New York City landlords have been accused of sharing tenants’ most sensitive information—phone numbers, photos, and even Social Security numbers—with immigration officials. To protect immigrant communities in our city, we cannot let landlords have access to residents’ biometric data.