Testimony Regarding Facial Recognition Technology in New York City Businesses

Facial recognition and other biometric surveillance tools enable and amplify the invasive tracking of who we are, where we go, and who we meet. They are also highly flawed and racially biased. The widespread use of these technologies presents a clear danger to all New Yorkers' civil liberties and threatens to erode our fundamental rights to privacy, protest, and equal treatment under the law.

Nobody wants to live in a world where pervasive surveillance identifies them, tracks their movements and associations, and impacts which places they can visit, which services they can access, or how they exercise their free speech rights. We urge the Council to take action that meets these values and put an end to ever-expanding surveillance across the City.