Under the terms of Cuomo’s order, the moratorium was to either end on July 1, 2022, or once the state department of education completed its fact-finding mission on facial recognition technology — whichever came later. Now, almost a year past the proposed end date of the moratorium, there is still no decision.
Department spokesman JP O’Hare verified that the use of “biometric-identifying technology, but not limited to facial recognition technology,” is still not allowed in schools pending the release of a report from the department’s Office of Information Technology Services. In an email to Government Technology on May 26, O’Hare said work on that report has begun, but he could not provide an estimated completion date.
“Stakeholder input has been obtained, analyzed, and the report is being drafted,” O’Hare wrote.
New York became the first state to ban such security technologies in schools. According to published reports, the Lockport City School District in western New York had spent more than $1 million in state funding to acquire a security system that, in addition to having facial recognition functions, can detect 10 different types of guns. Around the time of the system’s installation, school officials said the purpose of it was to keep out suspended students, sex offenders or other people who had been prohibited from entering the property.
The New York Civil Liberties Union filed suit against the state department of education in June 2020. Gov. Cuomo’s moratorium took effect six months later, and the following year a judge tossed the lawsuit, noting that the ban renders the lawsuit moot. Prior to both actions, the Lockport Board of Education engaged in conversations with parents, legislators and the state department of education over the security system’s capabilities, privacy concerns and potential discriminatory practices.
Lockport school officials did not respond to Government Technology’s requests for a comment regarding the status of the moratorium and plans for future uses of their school security system.
Districts that are seeking or expect to receive state funding for security systems, meanwhile, still have many options and tools to chose from that do not involve facial recognition technology, so the state’s indecision does not have to delay facility improvements.
The Otselic Valley district in central New York, for example, has badge readers and cameras at all entrances to determine who can get into the building, according to an email from Superintendent Georgia Gonzalez. She said next year, the district will implement software that conducts background checks on visitors. School officials there are also discussing a badging system for attendance and lockout situations in classrooms, bathrooms and buses. In addition, a badging system for student lockers is under consideration.
“The software we have for security does not have facial recognition,” Gonzalez wrote, “and we will not be using facial recognition.”