The Western Lights Wegmans pictured at night. Credit: Central Current

Onondaga County consumers may soon learn they’ve been paying an extra fee at certain businesses: a scan of their own faces.

County Legislators will introduce a new law on Tuesday that would require businesses to disclose if they are using biometric surveillance cameras to scan customers’ faces and store that biometric identifier information. The legislation would impose financial penalties on companies that fail to disclose their collection of biometric data.

If the disclosure law makes it through the Public Safety Committee and is approved by the legislature, Central New York consumers may learn that some of the businesses they frequent have quietly been collecting and storing scans of their faces and facial features.

The bill would also bar commercial establishments in the county from selling, trading or sharing biometric information, or profiting otherwise from the sale of its customers’ biometric information. 

The use of such surveillance technology in the private sector has garnered attention around the state since The Gothamist in January first reported that Wegmans was using biometric scanning technology in some of its stores. Ensuing reporting on biometric surveillance in businesses set off a slew of legislative proposals from lawmakers across New York. 

Efforts to rein in unregulated use of biometrics and face scanning technology have now made their way to the county with legislation introduced by lawmakers representing Onondaga County in Albany, as well as at the county level. Lawmakers representing the City of Syracuse are also set to introduce measures to regulate said surveillance measures.  

Facial recognition as an issue has caught the attention of County Executive Ryan McMahon, who said he still needs to learn more about biometric surveillance, and the privacy and civil liberties concerns associated with it, before taking a position on a topic without much local precedence.

“You’re kind of in new territory here,” McMahon said in an interview with Central Current. “So certainly, we want to hear from all sides on the issue.”

Acknowledging concerns about biometric and facial recognition technology, McMahon said he wants to learn more about why businesses like Wegmans believe the technology should be a security measure at its stores. 

Understanding how the county can enforce the law, McMahon said, will be key as legislators consider the law.

But as of Monday, legislators have not yet established what county department would enforce the legislation if approved. The consequences for noncompliance include a written warning on first offense, a $500 fine after two offenses, a $1,000 fine after three violations, and repeated fines if the violation is not remedied within 30 days.

Legislature Majority Leader Nodesia Hernandez told Central Current that the Public Safety Committee will discuss which agency is appropriate to enforce the potential law’s regulations and prohibitions.

“We’re still working on that part,” Hernandez said.

Aside from issuing the same statement to several inquiring publications, Wegmans has largely avoided engaging in public conversations on its policy of scanning its customers’ faces in select stores. 

Monroe County Legislator Rachel Barnhart in January issued a letter to Wegmans, headquartered in Rochester, asking several specific questions about the policies governing the company’s use of biometric surveillance on its own customers.

Barnhart’s questions included:

  • What specific biometric identifiers are collected, how long they are retained, and under what conditions they are deleted.
  • Whether Wegmans or its system vendor permits law enforcement or other government entities to access or obtain biometric identifiers generated from in-store surveillance technology, as distinct from traditional video footage provided in response to specific incidents.
  • Whether Wegmans uses, or plans to use, biometric data to support dynamic or individualized pricing, differential promotions, or any form of customer segmentation that affects prices, access, or treatment — and whether Wegmans will commit to prohibiting such uses.

“The information that the Monroe County Legislature is asking from Wegmans is important,” McMahon said. “You want to hear from both advocates of legislation like this, but also those that are being regulated, and then try to find balance and an effective policy.”

But so far, Wegmans has refused Barnhart’s invitation to weigh in on why it believes facial recognition surveillance cameras are necessary tools for a grocery store. 

Barnhart told Central Current that, because Wegmans has not explained its perspective, she and her colleagues in the Monroe County Legislature are moving forward on legislation to regulate biometric surveillance.

Tracy Van Auker, Wegmans’ public relations manager, did not respond to several specific questions from a Central Current reporter.

In response, Van Auker sent a statement similar to previous statements from Wegmans. Van Auker said the facial recognition data will only be used to identify visitors who have been previously flagged for misconduct.

“The data is not, and will not, be used for any other purpose,” Van Auker said.

Van Auker did not respond to questions asking:

  • Whether Wegmans is concerned that its stockpiling of biometric data could now or in the future be used to assist the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
  • Why Wegmans hasn’t responded to Barnhart’s letter.
  • Whether Wegmans plans on responding to Barnhart’s letter.
  • How stockpiling images and data on customers’ faces enhance safety at Wegmans’ locations.
  • For any relevant data or information that demonstrates the need to scan customers’ faces and amass biometric surveillance data.
  • How exactly does facial recognition technology keep Wegmans’ stores secure and safe?

As Onondaga County Legislators review countywide biometrics regulations, Syracuse Common Councilor Corey Williams said he and some of his colleagues are looking to establish stronger protections and regulations on surveillance within the city. 

Williams told Central Current that residents can expect forthcoming legislation on biometric guardrails in the council’s upcoming sessions.

Much of the city and county legislation coming to the fore emulates, at least in part, legislation that State Senator Rachel May has introduced in the State Legislature. May is sponsoring a ban on biometric surveillance in places of public accommodation, including grocery stores. 

May has also sponsored legislation to curb algorithmic wage-setting, and a bill aimed at protecting the safety and data of online dating app users.

Discussions on biometric regulations are also playing out in the halls of Congress.

Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey has introduced the “ICE Out of our Faces Act,” which would ban the U.S. Department of Homeland Security from using biometric and facial recognition data and surveillance tools that collect such data.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other DHS agencies are increasingly integrating facial recognition technology into immigration enforcement operations, and have even been instructed that facial recognition overrides physical documentation of citizenship. 

Markey’s bill would also require DHS purge all of the facial recognition and biometric surveillance tools at its disposal, as well as delete any related data which the department currently has at its disposal.

In a statement to Central Current, NY-22 Congressman John Mannion indicated he would support Markey’s measure, should it pass the Senate and come before the House of Representatives.

“ICE and CPB should not be using facial recognition technology or other AI to surveil Americans, warehouse our biometric data, or track and intimidate people,” Mannion said. “Congress should be restricting the use of FRT to ensure that everyone’s privacy and security is protected.”

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Patrick McCarthy is a staff reporter at Central Current covering government and politics. A graduate of Syracuse University’s Maxwell and Newhouse Schools, McCarthy was born and raised in Syracuse and...