Lockport, N.Y. (WBEN) - The State of New York outlawed schools from using facial recognition software in schools on Wednesday, citing a report conducted by the state's Office of Information Technology Services that suggests student privacy and civil rights outweigh the potential security benefits of the program.
The report, sought by the NYS Legislature, noted “the potentially higher rate of false positives for people of color, non-binary and transgender people, women, the elderly, and children.”
It also cited research from the nonprofit Violence Project that found that 70% of school shooters from 1980 to 2019 were current students. The technology, the report said, “may only offer the appearance of safer schools.”
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This decision comes to no surprise to newly-appointed Lockport City Schools District Superintendent of Schools Dr. Mathis Calvin, who told WBEN on Thursday that their $1.4 million dollar state grant funded system was decommissioned in 2020 and no longer used. The Aegis program software was installed in Lockport in January of 2020 and was only operational until June of 2020, before quickly being taken down.
"We, as a district, we are just moving forward, and that's really where we're at. Our goal is to move forward and to continue to do the work that we need to do with and for students. We respect the decision and we will move forward in a positive way," said Dr. Calvin.
The superintendent says that he understands both sides of the safety argument. At the time of installation, school shootings were a heightened issue happening nationwide, causing alarm for parents, teachers and students.
"I think that the district was, at the time, working to really do its best to secure the health and safety of students. I understand the concerns, again, both sides. We respect the decision of the [State education] commissioner, and we will honor the commissioner's ruling."
According to New York State Education Commissioner Dr. Betta Rosa, the report found that the use of digital fingerprinting was less risky and could be beneficial for school lunch payments and accessing electronic tablets and other devices. Schools may use that technology after seeking parental input. WBEN asked Superintendent Calvin if that's something that Lockport district was interested in pursuing.
"At this point in time, it's certainly something that we'll have to think about. The decision just came out yesterday, and our goal right now is just to make sure we review the report, understand all the content of it. And as [more details] come to fruition, we will review, evaluate, and think about the future."