THE STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT / THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK / ALBANY, NY 12234

CHIEF PRIVACY OFFICER

89 Washington Avenue, Room 152
Albany, New York 12234
(518) 474-0937
E-mail: temitope.akinyemi@nysed.gov

November 27, 2019

Michelle T. Bradley
Superintendent of Schools
Lockport City School District 130 Beattie Avenue
Lockport, NY 14094

Re: Lockport City School District’s Use of Facial Recognition Software

Dear Ms. Bradley,

This letter is in response to your letter of September 20, 2019 in which you informed the
Department that the Lockport School District (District) has come to the decision that no student data
will be created or maintained by the operation of the District’s facial recognition system, and that
this position is now reflected in revised District Policy #5685 - Operation and Use of Security
Systems/Privacy Protections (Policy). This change reflects the progress we have made in
discussions over many months. I would like to highlight additional steps the District must take to
make it even clearer that students have been removed from the operation of the facial recognition
system completely:

- Add a “scope’ section to the beginning of the policy to clearly set forth the prohibition
that the facial recognition system will never be used to create or maintain student data,
and that in no event shall a District student be placed in the AEGIS system database,
regardless of whether the student would otherwise fall within one of the categories set
forth in the Maintenance of Databases section of the policy or the policy in general.
- Add the language used in your cover letter to the Maintenance of Databases section to
reflect that “no student data will be created or maintained by the operation of the
District’s facial recognition system.”
- Remove the language on page 4 under ‘Privacy’ that states that “[i]n furtherance of that
purpose, such information may be used as appropriate for disciplinary reasons, and may
be shared with law enforcement or other governmental authorities as required or
permitted by law” or clarify in the policy that this language does not apply to students.
- Communicate the revised policy to District staff, parents, guardians, and students.

With these additional revisions, the Department believes that the Education Law §2-d issues
it has raised to date relating to the impact on the privacy of students and student data appear to be
addressed. However, the Department recommends that the District work with its local counsel to
ensure that all other applicable laws and regulations are met and that the civil rights of all individuals
are also protected when it comes to the District’s use of technology. We thank you for your
cooperation throughout this process and please continue to provide us with any updates on the use of
such technology in your schools.

Sincerely,

/s/ Temitope Akinyemi

Temitope Akinyemi

c: Clark Godshall