For Immediate Release
S.T.O.P. Welcomes Halt On Citi Bike Facial Rec. Rollout
(New York, NY, 5/7/2026) - Today, the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (S.T.O.P.), a New York-based privacy and civil rights group, welcomes the Mamdani administration’s halt on Citi Bike’s program to use facial recognition for age verification, citing concerns about identity theft, bias, and misidentification. S.T.O.P. welcomed the pause as a first step by Mamdani toward implementing the surveillance reforms promised during his mayoral campaign and tenure in the New York State Assembly. The civil rights group renewed its call on the City Council and the New York State Legislature to ban facial recognition and other invasive, biased forms of biometric surveillance.
SEE: New York Daily News - Mamdani admin tells Citi Bike: Don't use facial recognition to verify users’ age
https://www.nydailynews.com/2026/05/06/nyc-city-hall-citi-bike-dont-verify-users-age-facial-recognition-tech/
Research Report - Dear Mamdani
https://www.stopspying.org/content-input/stop-report-demands-mamdani-dismantle-nyc-surveillance-state-details-policy-recommendations?rq=dear%20mamdani
“Facial recognition does not keep young New Yorkers safe, it erodes their privacy,” said Surveillance Technology Oversight Project Executive Director Michelle Dahl. “In real-world conditions, facial recognition is most accurate in identifying middle-aged, cisgender white men—and even then it is rife with errors. The safety of young New Yorkers should always be paramount, but this technology would do little to meaningfully enforce Citi Bike’s age limit and cause a lot of headaches for adults wrongfully flagged by the system. We applaud Mayor Mamdani’s pause on Citi Bike’s rollout of facial recognition, but he must go further to protect New Yorkers from the creep of biometric surveillance into all aspects of city life.”
S.T.O.P.’s Ban The Scan legislative campaign includes multiple bills in New York City and State to ban facial recognition and other forms of biometric surveillance by places of public accommodation, landlords, schools, and law enforcement.
SEE: Ban The Scan campaign
banthescan.org
City Limits - City’s E-Scooter Program Must Ensure Privacy for Riders
https://citylimits.org/opinion-citys-e-scooter-program-must-ensure-privacy-for-riders/
The Surveillance Technology Oversight Project is a non-profit advocacy organization and legal services provider. S.T.O.P. litigates and advocates for privacy, fighting excessive local and state-level surveillance. Our work highlights the discriminatory impact of surveillance on Muslim Americans, immigrants, and communities of color.
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