Law / United States / 
New York
Use of biometric identifying technology in schools
In force.
A biometric privacy rule binding public and private bodies.
- Obligation class
- Prohibition, Biometric
- Audit expectation
- none
What it requires
- If you are a public elementary or secondary school, including a charter school, do not purchase or use biometric identifying technology for any purpose, including school security, except as the commissioner of education has authorized or for the employee uses State Technology Law 106-b(2)(b) allows; under the commissioner's 2023 order do not purchase or use facial recognition technology until a superseding order issues, and before deciding locally to use other biometric identifying technology consider its privacy implications, its impact on civil rights, its effectiveness and parental input (State Tech. Law 106-b(2)(a)).
- If you are a nonpublic elementary or secondary school, do not purchase or use biometric identifying technology for any purpose, including school security, except as the commissioner of education has authorized or for the employee uses State Technology Law 106-b(2)(b) allows; under the commissioner's 2023 order do not purchase or use facial recognition technology until a superseding order issues, and before deciding locally to use other biometric identifying technology consider its privacy implications, its impact on civil rights, its effectiveness and parental input (State Tech. Law 106-b(2)(a)).
- Schools may use biometric identifying technology only to fingerprint prospective school employees where the education law or the commissioner's regulations require it, or to identify employees who have consented in writing or whose employee organization has consented in writing (State Tech. Law 106-b(2)(b)).
- If you bought facial recognition technology products, or products with that capability, with Smart Schools Bond Act funds before , stop using the technology and certify that you have stopped, if you have not already done so (order of the Commissioner of Education, 2023).
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text.
What record it asks for
Logging duty
Section 106-b restricts the purchase and use of biometric identifying technology in schools and names no duty to create, keep or produce a log or record.
- Kind
- None
- As of
What this law does
Section 106-b(2)(a) prohibits public and nonpublic elementary and secondary schools, including charter schools, from purchasing or utilizing biometric identifying technology for any purpose, including school security, until July first, two thousand twenty-two or until the commissioner of education authorizes such purchase or utilization, whichever occurs later.
Section 106-b(2)(b) allows schools to use biometric identifying technology for fingerprint identification of prospective school employees where needed for compliance with the education law or the commissioner's regulations, and to identify employees who have consented in writing.
Section 106-b(3)(a) bars the commissioner from authorizing the purchase or utilization of biometric identifying technology, including facial recognition technology, without a report prepared in consultation with the state education department first being issued by the director. A 2023 order of the Commissioner of Education provides that no school in the State of New York shall purchase or utilize facial recognition technology unless and until the Commissioner issues a superseding order.
The same order authorizes schools to decide locally whether to use biometric identifying technology other than facial recognition technology. In deciding locally whether to use biometric identifying technology other than facial recognition technology, the order requires schools to consider its privacy implications, its impact on civil rights, if any, the effectiveness of the tool, and parental input.
The order also requires schools that bought facial recognition technology products, or products with that capability, with Smart Schools Bond Act funds before to discontinue any use of the technology and certify that they have done so.
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app serves K-12 schools.
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