New York State Bar Association Urges State To Regulate Facial Recognition Technology
11.4.2023
Ron Minkoff presenting the Facial Recognition Report to the House of Delegates
The New York State Bar Association is urging the state Legislature to expand the state’s Civil Rights Act to prohibit companies from barring access to entertainment venues based on where a football fan or concertgoer works.
The New York State Bar Association’s governing body, the House of Delegates, on Saturday approved the recommendations of its Working Group on Facial Recognition Technology and Access to Legal Representation. The working group was launched in February after the company that owns Madison Square Garden used facial recognition software to ban lawyers who work at firms suing it from its concerts and sports events.
“The misuse of facial recognition technology violates civil liberties, and if it continues unchecked, it will reach into every aspect of our lives — from our ability to move around freely and associate with whom we want to our freedom to do our jobs,” said New York State Bar Association President Richard Lewis. “Lawyers should be able to represent our clients in a consumer or personal injury case against a corporation without fear of retribution.”
The report details how retailers are employing facial recognition technology to identify customers suspected of shoplifting even if they have never been convicted. Authors of the report fear that the technology can be used by corporations and governments to deny access to not only entertainment venues, but stores, healthcare facilities and transportation hubs.
In adopting the report, the association also announced its support for the state Biometric Privacy Act. The bill — introduced in both the state Assembly and the state Senate — sets guidelines for how private entities must store and eventually destroy biometric data they collect.
“Our mission is to protect the integrity of our legal system against a new tool,” said the chair of the working group, President-Elect Domenick Napoletano. “Lawyers are being targeted for doing their jobs and it has a chilling effect on all of us. If an entertainment company can deny access to its adversaries, could other places used by the public — such as grocery stores, hospitals and airports — be next?”
