new york subway

Group Sues New York City MTA For Records On Facial Recognition Use in Subway Station

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority maintains that it has not used facial recognition on riders, but privacy advocates want records related to the technology the agency purchased.

  • By Haley Samsel
  • Jan 10, 2020

A New York privacy advocacy group is suing the New York City Metropolitan Transportation Authority for records relating to the agency’s installation of surveillance camera tech in a subway station last year.  

The lawsuit, filed on Jan. 6 by the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (S.T.O.P.), was prompted by the April 19 tweet of a New York Times employee who noticed a Wisenet monitor of riders as they entered the Times Square-42nd Street/Port Authority Bus Terminal. The photo showed yellow squares drawn over the faces of the passengers, leading many to suspect that the surveillance cameras were using facial recognition technology.

 

 

S.T.O.P. filed a public information request for documentation of the surveillance cameras’ capabilities in April, which the MTA did not respond to, according to the organization.

“New Yorkers deserve to know if the MTA is using invasive new spy tools,” Albert Fox Cahn, the executive director of S.T.O.P., said in a statement. “More than eight months ago, we submitted a straightforward request, but since then we’ve received nothing but evasion and stonewalling.”

The MTA has repeatedly denied that the Wisenet monitors had facial recognition capability. In a statement, MTA spokesperson Shams Tarek reiterated the agency’s position.

“There is absolutely no facial recognition component to these cameras, no facial recognition software, or anything else that could be used to automatically identify people in any way, and we have no plans to add facial recognition software to these cameras in the future,” Tarek said. “ Beyond that, it’s our policy not to comment on pending litigation.”

Wisenet does offer facial recognition technology cameras, but it is not clear if that was the product purchased by the MTA. When the tweet was shared last year, the MTA said the video monitor was intended to scare people from turnstyle jumping, according to The New York Daily News.

But Cahn maintains that the agency should have to produce records showing what it purchased and what its intended purpose was.

“If the MTA was telling New Yorkers the truth about their facial recognition systems, then why has it taken nearly a year to get the documents that prove it?” Cahn said.

About the Author

Haley Samsel is an Associate Content Editor for the Infrastructure Solutions Group at 1105 Media.

Featured

  • Survey: 48 Percent of Worshippers Feel Less Safe Attending In-Person Services

    Almost half (48%) of those who attend religious services say they feel less safe attending in-person due to rising acts of violence at places of worship. In fact, 39% report these safety concerns have led them to change how often they attend in-person services, according to new research from Verkada conducted online by The Harris Poll among 1,123 U.S. adults who attend a religious service or event at least once a month. Read Now

  • AI Used as Part of Sophisticated Espionage Campaign

    A cybersecurity inflection point has been reached in which AI models has become genuinely useful in cybersecurity operation. But to no surprise, they can used for both good works and ill will. Systemic evaluations show cyber capabilities double in six months, and they have been tracking real-world cyberattacks showing how malicious actors were using AI capabilities. These capabilities were predicted and are expected to evolve, but what stood out for researchers was how quickly they have done so, at scale. Read Now

  • Why the Future of Video Security Is Happening Outside the Cloud

    For years, the cloud has captivated the physical security industry. And for good reasons. Remote access, elastic scalability and simplified maintenance reshaped how we think about deploying and managing systems. Read Now

  • UL Solutions Launches Artificial Intelligence Safety Certification Services

    UL Solutions Inc., a global leader in safety science, today announced the launch of artificial intelligence (AI) safety certification services, enabling comprehensive assessments for evaluating the safety of AI-powered products. Read Now

  • ESA Announces Initiative to Introduce the SECURE Act in State Legislatures

    The Electronic Security Association (ESA), the national voice for the electronic security and life safety industry, has announced plans to introduce the SECURE Act in state legislatures across the country beginning in 2025. The proposal, known as Safeguarding Election Candidates Using Reasonable Expenditures, provides a clear framework that allows candidates and elected officials to use campaign funds for professional security services. Read Now

    • Guard Services
Most   Popular

New Products

  • A8V MIND

    A8V MIND

    Hexagon’s Geosystems presents a portable version of its Accur8vision detection system. A rugged all-in-one solution, the A8V MIND (Mobile Intrusion Detection) is designed to provide flexible protection of critical outdoor infrastructure and objects. Hexagon’s Accur8vision is a volumetric detection system that employs LiDAR technology to safeguard entire areas. Whenever it detects movement in a specified zone, it automatically differentiates a threat from a nonthreat, and immediately notifies security staff if necessary. Person detection is carried out within a radius of 80 meters from this device. Connected remotely via a portable computer device, it enables remote surveillance and does not depend on security staff patrolling the area.

  • Connect ONE’s powerful cloud-hosted management platform provides the means to tailor lockdowns and emergency mass notifications throughout a facility – while simultaneously alerting occupants to hazards or next steps, like evacuation.

    Connect ONE®

    Connect ONE’s powerful cloud-hosted management platform provides the means to tailor lockdowns and emergency mass notifications throughout a facility – while simultaneously alerting occupants to hazards or next steps, like evacuation.

  • QCS7230 System-on-Chip (SoC)

    QCS7230 System-on-Chip (SoC)

    The latest Qualcomm® Vision Intelligence Platform offers next-generation smart camera IoT solutions to improve safety and security across enterprises, cities and spaces. The Vision Intelligence Platform was expanded in March 2022 with the introduction of the QCS7230 System-on-Chip (SoC), which delivers superior artificial intelligence (AI) inferencing at the edge.