Common Council of the City of Syracuse Regular Meeting February 23, 2026. Corey Williams, right, and Jimmy Monto.

Biometrics and facial scanning technology is rapidly becoming a component of private sector surveillance systems, including at stores like Wegmans. But two city lawmakers want to keep that technology out of Syracuse.

Syracuse lawmakers Corey Williams and Jimmy Monto on Wednesday introduced a new law that would prohibit businesses in the city of Syracuse from incorporating biometric tools into its surveillance programs. 

“We’re living in a world where biometric data capture, data use, data sharing is prolific,” Williams told Central Current. “At that point, it’s the responsibility of legislative bodies to put guardrails on what’s happening in our communities.”

Biometric surveillance refers to the collection of physical or behavioral characteristics that can identify an individual, such as faces, fingerprints, eyes, and voices.

The legislation the councilors introduced states that “the rapid advance in surveillance technology has resulted in citizens being monitored and documented, often without their knowledge or consent, upon entering place of public accomodation.”

Biometric surveillance has featured in conversations among local elected officials since January, when The Gothamist first reported that Wegmans had introduced biometric surveillance to some of its stores. 

The Rochester-based grocery chain has refused to clarify whether it is making use of such tools in Central New York stores, despite questions from local lawmakers and news organizations. The revelation of Wegmans’ surveillance resulted from a local law in New York City, which requires businesses collecting biometric information to conspicuously inform customers of that practice.

Democrats in the Onondaga County Legislature in February introduced a disclosure law akin to that of New York City, but that legislation has not advanced.

State Senator Rachel May, whose district comprises much of Syracuse, has led efforts in Albany to regulate and prohibit biometric surveillance. May in 2025 introduced a statewide prohibition on biometric surveillance in places of “public accommodation,” which served as a template for the local law Monto and Williams introduced.

May’s bill is currently in the state’s Senate Investigations And Government Operations committee. Williams told Central Current that he hopes the passage of his and Monto’s local law will help to build momentum for Albany to push May’s bill forward.

While the collection of biometric information may sound new to many Central New Yorkers, the technology has existed for years, and some businesses have employed such tools since at least 2018. Home Depot and Lowes were sued in 2019 for the practice, and Lowes continues to use the tools.

The American Civil Liberties Union in January outlined the rapid encroachment of such surveillance within businesses — and the potential for President Donald Trump’s administration to use the biometric information stores are collecting to advance the president’s immigration crackdown.

Syracuse lawmakers have taken steps recently to sever the city’s ties to the government’s deportation operations. The council recently terminated the city’s contract with Flock Safety, pivoting to Axon Enterprise as its license plate reader provider.

The Common Council passed a resolution instructing the city to implement an additional consideration to its contract bidding process, which would require companies trying to partner with Syracuse to outline whether they collect and share data and the purpose for collecting data.

Because the biometric ban is a local law, the council will have to table the ordinance in its Monday voting session. The council’s next voting session after Monday’s will take place on May 4 at 1 p.m., but Monto said the council may not hold the law for a vote in that session either. 

“I expect it to probably go longer than that. We probably will want to have a committee meeting, let SPD flesh out anything that they want to talk about,” Monto said.

The council wants to hear from the Syracuse Police Department to ensure that the bill won’t affect the department’s operations, Monto said. Because the ban primarily applies to retail stores, Monto said that the council wants to probe the ban’s impact on policing Destiny USA.

The council isn’t currently considering a similar biometric ban to apply to the city’s own surveillance systems, Monto said. The councilor is optimistic the police department would be willing to have an open discussion about banning that sort of technology from its surveillance tools, he said.

The retail-focused biometric ban Monto and Williams introduced bans the collection of DNA sequence and fingerprints. Monto said that any legislation aimed at prohibiting the police department from using biometrics would require a deeper conversation about banning the collection of specific biometric information that wouldn’t complicate the department’s existing practices.

“We’re not there yet. I think that’s such a bigger discussion, because the way that this legislation is written really bans the use of fingerprints inside of those places,” Monto said. “I think there are some state laws that allow the police to use fingerprints no matter what. So any sort of legislation down that road is, it’s a much different animal.”

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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...