Council Push to Ban Biometric Data Collection by Stores, Landlords Underway

The New York City Council is actively considering two bills that would ban private businesses and landlords from collecting biometric data, via methods such as facial recognition technology, in a push to strengthen consumer and tenant privacy protections.

The legislative push in hearings on March 2 for the bills–Int 0213-2026 and Int 0428-2026–comes amid high-profile reports on the local adoption of the technology by retail chains such as Macy’s and Wegman’s. The retail giants say that the technology is necessary to bolster security at their stores, using the example of identifying shoplifters.

Right now, the only laws on the books pertaining to biometric data require that any company utilizing the technology must post a sign alerting customers to its use.

The first piece of legislation would make it “unlawful for any place or provider of public accommodation to [use] biometric recognition technology to verify or identify a customer.” A grocery store would be considered a such a public accommodation provider.

The bill’s lead sponsor is Council Member Shahana Hanif, who represents Brooklyn. She’s been pushing such legislation since 2024, with the assistance of privacy advocates who say that the technology produces heightened misidentification of people of color.

The second bill would “make it unlawful for an owner of a multiple dwelling to install, activate or use any biometric recognition technology that identifies tenants or the guest of a tenant.” An “owner of a multiple dwelling” is a somewhat technical term for a landlord.

Council Member Pierina Ana Sanchez, who represents the Bronx, is serving as the latter bill’s lead sponsor; Hanif also serves as a co-sponsor.

In the lead-up to the hearing, Hanif issued an online call for the public to attend. In an Instagram post calling to “Ban the Scan,” she wrote that “biometric technology, like facial recognition, threatens our civil liberties.”

“This hearing comes at an important time,” Hanif said during the hearing. “Earlier this year, New Yorkers learned that Wegman’s has begun collecting biometric data from customers entering its supermarket.”

“That means that shoppers may have their facial features, eye scans, or voice data captured—without a clear understanding of how that information is stored, used, or shared,” she added. “What happens if that data is breached? Many of us know the feeling of discovering our credit card information has been stolen. It’s invasive and frightening.”

Unlike a credit card, Hanif explained, you “cannot cancel your face...you cannot replace your iris. You cannot change your gait.”

Wegman’s made waves upon rolling out the biometric recognition technology earlier this year, as Straus News contributor Max White reported in January.

A sign on the door formally notified customers that the technology would be “used to ‘identify or help identify’ people,” with the apparent purpose of “‘[protecting] the safety and security’ of patrons and employees.”

The only people being identified, Wegman’s added in a statement, were those who “have been previously flagged for misconduct.”

Critics point to certain biometric software models containing inbuilt flaws that have resulted in the misidentification of people of color. An op-ed in Scientific American, for example, summarized findings that biometric tech used by various police departments has led to increased racial profiling and false arrests.

Outside of its rollout in grocery stores, other local uses of biometric technology have stirred up controversy. Back in 2023, Madison Square Garden owner James Dolan’s used facial recognition tech to block lawyers—who worked at firms suing his companies—from gaining admission to Knicks or Rangers games, or to Radio City Music Hall.

Several of the banned lawyers were longtime season ticket-holders who were not active participants in the lawsuits, and who merely worked at the same firms. It still left them on the outs.

In one high-profile case, Dolan banned a woman from entering Radio City Music Hall to watch the Rockettes, as she was taking a Girl Scout troop that included her daughter to view the show. The kids were allowed inside while the troop leader was forced to wait outside. Dolan was sued by several people aggrieved that he was collecting biometric data, but appears to have withstood all the legal challenges thus far.

In May 2024, a judge tossed a class action lawsuit from people objecting to Madison Square Garden’s use of facial recognition technology.