Commissioner of Education of the State of New York, Betty Rosa, has issued a ban on the use of facial recognition technology (FRT) in schools.
Commissioner of Education of the State of New York, Betty Rosa, has issued a ban on the use of facial recognition technology (FRT) in schools. This decision comes in the wake of a state report that revealed the potential risks to student privacy outweighed the perceived security benefits.
Under this directive, schools are expressly prohibited from acquiring or deploying FRT systems. However, the use of alternative biometric identifying technology (BIT), such as fingerprint identification, remains permissible. It is now incumbent upon individual schools to carefully consider the implications on student privacy and civil rights while implementing BIT.
The New York state legislature had earlier commissioned the New York State Office of Information Technology Services to conduct a comprehensive report on the use of biometric identification technology within educational institutions.
The findings, released in August, highlighted concerns regarding FRT’s potential for a “higher rate of false positives for people of color, non-binary and transgender people, women, the elderly, and children.” This raised the specter of potential violations of the Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 if a disproportionate impact on protected groups were observed.
Furthermore, the report cited a separate study indicating that 70 percent of school shooters between 1980 and 2019 were current students who would not have been flagged by facial recognition technology. It also cautioned against an over-reliance on technology for security, warning that it could lead school administrators into a “false sense of security.”
Ultimately, the report advocated for the use of BIT, particularly fingerprint identification, deeming it to be a more beneficial option for school security with “minimal” associated risks compared to FRT.
Commissioner Rosa’s decision to enact this ban underscores the state’s commitment to safeguarding student privacy and ensuring a secure educational environment. As schools grapple with the challenges of modern technology, this move sets a precedent for a balanced approach between security measures and individual rights within the educational landscape.