New Jersey Eyes Regulation of Biometric Data

As the use of biometrics becomes more widespread, concerns about privacy have increased alongside the growing trend. Biometric data generally means data generated by analysis of an individual’s biological characteristics, such as retina or iris scan, fingerprint, voiceprint, handprint, facial geometry, or other unique biological patterns or characteristics that identify a specific individual. Biometric data can be collected from individuals as they go about their daily lives, from accessing their mobile device, asking Alexa or Siri about the weather, authorizing a withdrawal from an ATM, passing through airport security, and even when attending a concert or sporting event at Madison Square Garden. Since 2008, use of facial recognition and other biometric information collection systems has been common in the public sector. In the private sector, biometric information collection is equally prevalent, including, for example, the use of fingerprint scans to lock and unlock smartphones, facial recognition-based tagging features in digital photo applications, and the collection of such information for employment and security applications.

With daily headlines reporting on, and stoking fear of, large-scale data breaches, increasing public concern about the privacy and security of biometric data is unsurprising. The vast repositories of biometric information collected through these myriad systems may be particularly attractive to hackers because our biometric characteristics are generally immutable. The use of biometric information has grown exponentially in the past 10 years, with more and more businesses, employers, and governmental agencies employing technology to capture and use individuals’ biometric information for a wide-range of purposes. Spiceworks, an IT marketplace for the technology industry, reported that nearly 90% of businesses will utilize biometric authentication by 2020, up from 62% in 2018. In 2018, the biometric market revenue sat at $4.9 billion dollars for the United States alone, and the financial services industry had the highest usage, followed closely by the technology industry, and governmental agencies (Statista.com).

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