Colorado legislators wrangle laws on facial recognition in schools, data protection

Regulatory winds are blowing from both directions in Colorado, where a moratorium on AI facial recognition cameras in schools is set to expire, while a new law coming into effect directly regulates the use of biometric technologies in the Centennial State.

The debate over facial recognition cameras in the state’s classrooms has been on legislative hold since 2022, when state legislators voted to create a body to investigate how biometric systems are used in Colorado, and embedded in their bill a moratorium on public and charter schools from enacting new contracts. That hold is set to expire in July 2025, prompting anticipation of a surge in new facial recognition and AI surveillance deployments.

Complicating the matter, schools that were already using AI facial recognition before the moratorium have been allowed to continue using it. According to Daily Camera, nearly 400 cameras with AI capability are distributed across the Cheyenne Mountain School District in Colorado Springs. Community colleges are also adopting the technology.

Emergency uses hard to overlook in state with history of gun violence

The piece quotes Colorado State Senator Chris Hansen, who sponsored the 2022 bill enacting the pause. Hansen is not completely opposed to AI and facial recognition technology, noting that “there are some interesting cases of how it can be used to quickly find people in an emergency and enhance building security in an emergency.”

Colorado has seen several mass shootings since the 1999 massacre at Columbine High School.

However, rights groups including the state’s ACLU chapter note that some research casts doubt on whether AI surveillance actually keeps schools safer. And Hansen emphasizes the need to balance the benefits with “potential misuses and overly zealous surveillance.”

He is also the sponsor of more recent legislation on AI. HB24-1468, the Artificial Intelligence & Biometric Technologies act, creates a task force to gauge the impact of AI. A government release says the task force’s mission has been updated to include “a broad approach to artificial intelligence technology, automated decision systems and biometric technology,” considering issues related to key definitions, notice and disclosure requirements, best practices for evaluating the ethical and equitable impact of AI, and recommendations related to the use of facial recognition services and biometric technology.

Potent amendment to Colorado Privacy Act could be next BIPA

The state is also getting a new data protection law, which will have further impacts on state regulations for biometrics and facial recognition. On May 31, 2024, Colorado Governor Jared Polis signed into law HB 1130, an amendment to the Colorado Privacy Act (CPA), which will take effect in July 2025 – right around the time the schools moratorium expires.

Nor is the law a mere trifle. In an extensive breakdown for Biometric Update, David J. Oberly looks at HB 1130’s “sweeping scope and low applicability thresholds,” which he compares to the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA), as well as “unique requirements and restrictions that have – until now – been historically confined to broader consumer privacy statutes.”

Article Topics

biometrics  |  Colorado  |  data protection  |  facial recognition  |  legislation  |  schools