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Laurel Libby of Auburn represents District 90 in the Maine House of Representatives.
Many people were shocked to learn about the fingerprint scanning being instituted at Caribou High School to track attendance that was reported in February. As reported by The Maine Wire, Caribou High Principal Selfridge wrote to parents, “Starting next trimester, we will be introducing Identimetrics to assist with attendance and tardies entries into PowerSchool, our school’s student management system.”
This is how far behind Maine is in its privacy protection laws for our people — especially children — regarding the use of their biometric data. This eye-popping stuff is not some dystopian novel. This is real life and happening to our children right here in Maine.
What is “biometric data?” Included in the definition are your fingerprints and retinal scan, intimate identifiers that are uniquely yours, and could not be replaced. Currently, your biometrics can be used for purposes outside of how you expect as a consumer. For example, a fitness app could, in addition to tracking your running route, also be collecting — and selling! — your heart rate throughout the day, or how much sleep you got the night before. Private business could also sell your data to the government, making an end run around requiring a warrant to obtain your biometric data.
After the news broke about Caribou High School deciding to use students’ fingerprints to track attendance, the administrators immediately changed course when Maine people loudly put their foot down saying, “No say!” People do not want to be tracked, traced, cataloged and monetized for the benefit of a nameless, faceless corporation. Or worse yet, stored for government snoopers.
Privacy invasion is not popular!
Maine needs to catch up when it comes to consumer protections. Some states have laws that require consent to capture and commercialize your biometric data. And, in the wake of NCAA v. Alston, where the Supreme Court rightfully recognized that individuals get to monetize their own image and name, it’s only common sense that individuals own their own fingerprints.
How do we balance protecting consumers with making sure we don’t infringe on private business? This question is complicated by the fact that the government can currently use private business to collect information on private citizens and purchase that information. We’ve all seen the movies where someone barks, “Get a warrant!” This is not just a throw away line in a movie but rather the backbone of privacy protections enshrined in the Bill of Rights of the Constitution. This should also apply to our own biometric data.
Consumers should have the ability to opt-in and approve use of their biometric data, and that process of giving consent should be transparent and not done in a way that is manipulative or confusing.
The age of AI is here and technology that tracks our every move is ubiquitous. It’s even in our refrigerators and microwaves. As technology advances, it is important to make sure Maine citizens’ privacy is not under attack. Recently, the Legislature passed a ban on government surveillance via facial recognition. But even these reforms are not enough and need to be tightened. In the next couple weeks, two bills will come before the Legislature regarding the use of Mainers’ biometric data, giving us the opportunity to increase protections for Maine consumers.
Privacy is not a partisan issue. People across the political spectrum agree with privacy and civil liberties. The reforms sought in Maine are supported by many in every political party. Privacy can be an issue that unites people in Maine. As we’ve seen with the collective outrage when Edward Snowden, an American hero, exposed that the National Security Agency violated our privacy rights and was spying on Americans, we can come together and all agree our biometric data is our own.
