1. United States
2. N.Y.
3. Letter

I am writing to urge you to draft and pass state legislation banning the use of facial recognition technology. Current research reveals serious problems with this technology that demand immediate regulatory action: Reliability and Safety Concerns: A Georgetown University study found that facial recognition "doesn't work well enough to reliably serve the purposes for which law enforcement agencies themselves want to use it." The technology identifies the wrong person up to 98% of the time, resulting in false arrests, wrongful imprisonment, and deportation. Rather than keeping citizens safe, these errors put people in genuine danger of bodily and psychological harm. Discrimination: Facial recognition exacerbates existing discrimination by enabling stores, businesses, and law enforcement to track and target specific individuals and communities without oversight. Communities of color face disproportionate harm from the tech's baked-in biases. Security Risks: Once biometric information is stored in databases, it becomes an easy target for identity thieves and hackers. Successful attacks have already occurred. Privacy and Liberty: Even if the technology worked perfectly, ubiquitous and unavoidable population monitoring poses fundamental threats to basic liberty. The successful campaigns that secured bans at 40+ major music festivals demonstrate this issue commands public concern. I respectfully request you take a leadership role in protecting our state's residents from these harms. Thank you for your consideration.