Facial recognition in a public school district could start if this bill doesn't pass in time

With no laws to stand in the way, a public school district is set to scan children’s faces. 

The Lockport City School District in New York state is about to become the first public school in the nation with a facial recognition security system, as reported by Buzzfeed. The expensive new program is supposed to protect students from threats, like school shootings. But there’s a lack of transparency around how the system will affect the privacy of students, and tenuous evidence about whether it will actually help prevent the threats it’s designed to combat. 

Despite these problems — and larger civil liberty concerns about facial recognition — a New York State bill that would halt the program for a year so more research can done may come too late to stop it.   Read more...