New York City’s Biometric Law Opens The Door To Significant Civil Liability

On July 9, 2021, New York City’s Biometric Identifier Information law went into effect, implementing a host of regulations regarding the collection, use, and sale of biometric data by commercial establishments in the five boroughs.

Most notably, the new law bans the sale of biometric data by commercial establishments and imposes requirements to post conspicuous notices of the establishment’s use of biometric identifying technologies.

Failure to post these notices potentially results in fines and/or a private right of action by a commercial establishment’s customer.

New York City businesses must be aware of and comply with this new law or face potentially significant liability in the form of civil claims and class actions, similar to what companies have been dealing with for years in Illinois under a similar biometric law.

The businesses most affected by the new law are those that typically require some form of biometric identification to gain entry or access to parts of a building, such as establishments in the Diamond District that grant temporary access to customers through a fingerprint scan.