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On September 11, 2020, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced its intention to significantly expand both the number of people required to submit biometrics during routine immigration applications and the types of biometrics that individuals must surrender. This new rule will apply to immigrants and U.S. citizens alike, and to people of all ages, including, for the first time, children under the age of 14. It would nearly double the number of people from whom DHS would collect biometrics each year, to more than six million. The biometrics DHS plans to collect include palm prints, voice prints, iris scans, facial imaging, and even DNA—which are far more invasive than DHS’s current biometric collection of fingerprints, photographs, and signatures.

With over nine thousand face scans in 2020 alone, the New York City Police Department (NYPD) is a leading abuser of New Yorkers’ freedoms through its use of face recognition, a biased, broken, and invasive technology.

No government agency should use face recognition. There is special urgency to end the NYPD’s use of this dangerous technology given the department’s history of misconduct, and its failure to properly manage officer use of the technology. Join us in calling on City Council Speaker Corey Johnson to introduce and pass legislation banning government use of face recognition technology in New York City.

Governor Gavin Newsom has a plan to spend $7 billion on broadband infrastructure. Urge your lawmakers to support this plan to close the digital divide.