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Assembly Bill A519

2023-2024 Legislative Session

Relates to the use of facial recognition and biometric information for determining probable cause

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Archive: Last Bill Status - In Assembly Committee

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2023-A519 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:
Assembly Governmental Operations
Law Section:
Executive Law
Laws Affected:
Ren §837-w to be §837-x, add §837-y, Exec L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:
2019-2020: A10411
2021-2022: A768
2025-2026: A1447

2023-A519 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Prohibits the use of facial recognition and biometric information as the sole factor in determining the existence of probable cause to place in custody or arrest an individual.

2023-A519 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf 

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                    519
 
                        2023-2024 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                              January 9, 2023
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  M.  of  A. L. ROSENTHAL -- read once and referred to the
   Committee on Governmental Operations
 
 AN ACT to amend the executive law, in relation  to  the  use  of  facial
   recognition and biometric information for determining probable cause
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Section 837-w of the executive law, as added by chapter 219
 of the laws of 2022, is renumbered section 837-x and a new section 837-y
 is added to read as follows:
   § 837-Y. USE OF BIOMETRIC IDENTIFYING TECHNOLOGY. 1. AS USED  IN  THIS
 SECTION:
   (A)  "BIOMETRIC  IDENTIFYING TECHNOLOGY" SHALL MEAN ANY COMPUTER SOFT-
 WARE, ALGORITHM, PRODUCT, OR APPLICATION THAT COLLECTS OR ELECTRONICALLY
 ANALYZES BIOMETRIC INFORMATION FOR THE PURPOSES OF IDENTIFYING AN  INDI-
 VIDUAL, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO FACIAL RECOGNITION.
   (B)  "BIOMETRIC  INFORMATION"  SHALL  MEAN  ANY MEASURABLE PHYSICAL OR
 BEHAVIORAL  CHARACTERISTICS  THAT  ARE  ATTRIBUTABLE  TO  AN  INDIVIDUAL
 PERSON, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO FACIAL CHARACTERISTICS, FINGERPRINT
 CHARACTERISTICS,  HAND CHARACTERISTICS, EYE CHARACTERISTICS, VOCAL CHAR-
 ACTERISTICS, AND ANY OTHER PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS THAT CAN BE USED  TO
 IDENTIFY  A  PERSON  INCLUDING,  BUT NOT LIMITED TO: FINGERPRINTS; HAND-
 PRINTS; RETINA AND IRIS PATTERNS; DNA SEQUENCE; VOICE; GAIT; AND  FACIAL
 GEOMETRY.
   (C)  "FACIAL RECOGNITION" SHALL MEAN A BIOMETRIC APPLICATION OR BIOME-
 TRIC IDENTIFYING TECHNOLOGY CAPABLE OF UNIQUELY IDENTIFYING OR VERIFYING
 A PERSON BY COMPARING AND  ANALYZING  PATTERNS  BASED  ON  THE  PERSON'S
 FACIAL CONTOURS.
   2.  BIOMETRIC  IDENTIFYING  TECHNOLOGY SHALL NOT BE THE SOLE FACTOR IN
 DETERMINING THE EXISTENCE OF PROBABLE  CAUSE  TO  PLACE  IN  CUSTODY  OR
 ARREST AN INDIVIDUAL.
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD00733-01-3
 A. 519                              2

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