New York bill would ban police use of facial recognition and other biometric surveillance

ALBANY, N.Y. – New York lawmakers are considering a sweeping proposal to prohibit law enforcement from using biometric surveillance technology, while creating a task force to study if and how such tools should ever be allowed.

Assembly Bill A01045, sponsored by Assemblymember Deborah Glick and matched in the Senate as S05609, would bar police agencies, officers and peace officers from acquiring, accessing or using any biometric surveillance system — including software that identifies people or generates surveillance information from biometric data. The measure permits civil actions for equitable or declaratory relief against agencies or officers that violate the ban.

The bill carves out specific exceptions: mobile fingerprint scans during lawful detentions, use of the state DNA identific