• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Our Services
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletter
  • Top Nav Social Icons

FindBiometrics

FindBiometrics

Global Identity Management

  • Biometrics
    • What are Biometrics?
    • FAQ
    • Biometric Associations
    • Companies
    • Premier Partners
  • News
    • Featured Articles
    • Interviews
    • Thought Leadership
    • Podcasts
    • Webinars
    • Year in Review
  • Applications
    • Biometric Security
    • Border Control and Airport Biometrics
    • Consumer and Residential Biometrics
    • Financial Biometrics
    • Fingerprint & Biometric Locks
    • Healthcare Biometrics
    • Justice and Law Enforcement Biometrics
    • Logical Access Control Biometrics
    • Mobile Biometrics
    • Other Biometric Applications
    • Physical Access Control Biometrics
    • Biometric Time and Attendance
  • Solutions
    • Behavioral Biometrics
    • Biometric Sensors and Detectors
    • Facial Recognition
    • Biometric Fingerprint Readers
    • Hand Readers & Finger Scanners
    • Iris Recognition
    • Biometric Middleware and Software
    • Multimodal Biometrics
    • Physiological Biometrics
    • Smart Cards
    • Vein Recognition
    • Voice and Speech Recognition
  • Stocks
  • Events
  • Companies
  • Podcasts

School District’s Facial Recognition Procurement Process Was Neither Competitive Nor Illegal: Audit

April 19, 2022

The New York State Comptroller’s Office has ruled that the Lockport City School District’s facial recognition procurement process was neither transparent nor competitive, though it stopped short of saying that it was illegal. The decision represents the completion of an audit that began in March of 2021, and concerns the District’s use of facial recognition technology in public schools.

School District's Facial Recognition Procurement Process Was Neither Competitive Nor Illegal: Audit

In that regard, the Lockport City security system has been a subject of controversy since its inception. The Lockport Board of Education started searching for a facial recognition provider back in 2016, bringing on Orchard Park’s Tony Olivo as a consultant to help lead the process. Olivo issued a call for software vendors in June of that same year, eventually leading to a software licensing agreement between the school district and SN Technologies. The agreement was signed in June of 2017, and covers facial recognition for the Lockport High School.

The problem, according to the Lockport parent who requested the audit, is that the Board of Education already had a provider lined up before soliciting bids. Olivo’s request for information only gave vendors four days to respond, and the window for a hardware solicitation in 2017 was even shorter, giving interested parties only a day to put together a proposal. SN Technologies was the only company that had enough notice to meet the second deadline, and likely benefited from the fact that Olivo’s Orchard Park was listed as a partner of the company.

With that in mind, the auditors criticized the School District for using inaccurate and misleading language when describing its procurement process. They determined that the process was not competitive, despite the claims that Lockport made to the contrary.

However, the auditors noted that there was nothing inherently illegal about the way Lockport did business. The Board of Education is not required to conduct a competitive search, and is allowed to piggyback off of other district contracts when purchasing technology. As a result, Lockport still adhered to the letter of the law when obtaining professional services, even if some of its practices were frowned upon in the audit.

In addition to its questionable procurement decision, the Board of Education was asked to account for a February 2018 policy that stated that any security providers looking to do business with Lockport needed to make sure that their tech was compatible with SN Technologies’ AEGIS facial recognition software. The policy effectively narrowed the search field to SN Technologies for future contracts, though Lockport administrators argued that it was more efficient to standardize its technology once a partnership had been established.

Of course, the question is a moot point for the time being. New York lawmakers banned the use of facial recognition in schools in July of 2020, and then-Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the bill in December of that year. The law prevents the use of the tech until July of 2022, or until the state Department of Education completes a privacy impact assessment for the technology.

The Lockport system went live with roughly 300 cameras in January of 2020, while the $4.27 million it paid for the system has been reimbursed by the state. The New York Civil Liberties Union and a group of parents sued the school for privacy violations, though the lawsuit was dismissed after a judge ruled that the 2020 ban made the action redundant. Lockport was using facial recognition to identify people on watchlists, and to try to spot people carrying weapons.  

Source: The Buffalo News

–

April 19, 2022 – by Eric Weiss

Related News

  • NYCLU Finds New York Schools Not Sticking to Facial Recognition BanNYCLU Finds New York Schools Not Sticking to Facial Recognition Ban
  • Two More Parents Join Biometric Privacy Lawsuit Against New York School DistrictTwo More Parents Join Biometric Privacy Lawsuit Against New York School District
  • Leaked List of NTech Lab Users Includes Intel, Dell, and Other US CompaniesLeaked List of NTech Lab Users Includes Intel, Dell, and Other US Companies
  • Judge Orders NYPD to Release Biometric Surveillance DocsJudge Orders NYPD to Release Biometric Surveillance Docs
  • Five Facial Recognition Trends That Show Us the State of the Art in Mid-2022Five Facial Recognition Trends That Show Us the State of the Art in Mid-2022
  • Clearview Loses Sales Staff and Two ExecutivesClearview Loses Sales Staff and Two Executives

Filed Under: News Tagged With: AEGIS, Biometric, biometrics, biometrics controversy, face biometrics, facial recognition, Lockport, procurement, school deployments, SN Technologies

Primary Sidebar

EXCLUSIVE MEMBERS ONLY CONTENT:

Become a FindBiometrics Member and gain easy access to specialty content, including the ID Tech column, replays of virtual events, and Identity School educational checklists:

ID Tech: America’s Most Murderous City Reverses Its Facial Recognition Ban [NEW]

ID TECH: What Role Will Biometrics Play in the Cyber Cold War? We’re About to Find Out

Identity School: Facial Recognition Cheat Sheet

Sponsored Links

TECH5 showcase logo

TECH5 is an international technology company founded by experts from the biometrics industry, which focuses on developing disruptive biometric and digital ID solutions through the application of AI and Machine Learning technologies.

TECH5 target markets include both Government and Private sectors with products powering Civil ID, Digital ID, as well as authentication solutions that deliver identity assurance for various use cases. 

Learn more: www.tech5.ai

Onfido logo

Onfido is building the new identity standard for the internet.Our AI-based technology assesses whether a user’s government-issued ID is genuine or fraudulent, and then compares it against their facial biometrics. That’s how we give companies like Revolut, Zipcar and Bitstamp the assurance they need to onboard customers remotely and securely. Our mission is to create a more open world, where identity is the key to access.. For more information, please visit www.onfido.com

ThreatMark brings trust to the digital world by providing cutting-edge fraud prevention solutions. Major banks use ThreatMark’s AI-powered technology and behavioral biometrics to build secured banking experience to precisely verify their legitimate users, seamlessly across all digital channels. All while securing the users’ most precious assets and keeping the fraudsters away. Learn more: www.threatmark.com/

With its secunet border gears product portfolio and specialised consulting expertise, secunet supports police forces and security authorities in their sovereign tasks. Whether ABC gates, self-service kiosks or biometric middleware – each component helps to strengthen identity protection and to accelerate verification – in mobile and stationary scenarios.

Mobile ID World Logo

Mobile ID World is here to bring you the latest in mobile authentication solutions and application providers. Our company is dedicated to providing users with the best content and cutting edge information on technology, news, and mobile solutions for your mobile identity management needs.

Recent Posts

  • Authentication, Border Screening, Surveillance – Biometrics News Digest for August 10, 2022
  • IDEX and Reltime Collaborate On Crypto-focused Web3 Biometric Card
  • America’s Most Murderous City Reverses Its Facial Recognition Ban
  • Innovatrics’ DOT Enables Selfie-based Hotel Check-in
  • Ping to Go Private in $2.8 Billion Deal

Biometric Associations

IBIA and fido

Tweets

Footer

  • About Us
  • Company Directory
  • Advertise With Us
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Archives
  • CCPA: Do not sell my personal info.

Follow Us

Copyright © 2022 FindBiometrics