In what could have far-reaching impact on the installation of biometric technology in rent-regulated buildings, a state oversight agency has denied a Chinatown landlord's request to install a fingerprint scanner at the entrance, saying that "privacy concerns outweigh any added security benefit" that the proposed system may have had.
Back in 2017, the tenants at 144 East Broadway, a five-story walk-up building, opposed the owner's application to install fingerprint scanning, originally based on concerns that the system would be used to justify proposed rent increases under a provision that allows landlords to pass along costs of building-wide improvements. Thomas Yu, the co-executive director of Asian Americans for Equality, a nonprofit which represented the tenants, said organizers originally approached the case as a landlord harassment issue using 21st century technology.
"We were concerned about the different ways unscrupulous landlords innovate in order to evict people," Yu said. But eventually, he added, some tenants also raised concerns about the intrusiveness of using fingerprint scans. The building currently uses a key-fob system.
Under the rules for rent-regulated units, property owners must seek permission from the Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR) if they seek to make any changes to services in a building.
The agency rejected the application in January 2018, citing privacy concerns, but the owner, Rangoon, Inc., filed an appeal.
Nearly a year later, DHCR's deputy commissioner Woody Pascal last month upheld the original decision, saying that the state has a right to consider privacy when it comes to allowing changes in building services.
A phone message left for Michael Chan, whose name was listed as the owner of Rangoon, was not returned.
DHCR's decision comes amid increasing debate over the use of biometric entry systems, which rely on personal identifying characteristics such as fingerprints and facial characteristics, in residential buildings. In November, following pressure from tenants and elected officials, a Brooklyn landlord agreed to withdraw his application to install a facial recognition system at Atlantic Plaza Towers, a rent-stabilized 700-unit development his company owns in Brownsville.
Since news of that case broke in March last year, there has been a flurry of proposed legislation to regulate biometric technology at the local, state and federal levels. One bill proposed by Brooklyn Councilmember Brad Lander would mandate landlords to provide physical keys to residents for all entrances, as a way of allowing tenants to opt out of biometric systems. Another bill, by Manhattan Councilmember Mark Levine, would prohibit landlords from using personal data collected by such systems to track residents or to evict or harass them.
It is not known how many rent-regulated or affordable apartment buildings in New York City are currently using biometric entry systems. A spokesperson for DHCR could not immediately confirm how many applications the agency has received to install such technologies in older buildings. But in the 144 East Broadway decision, Pascal noted that the agency has never approved the use of biometric technology for rent-regulated buildings under applications requesting a change in service.
Knickerbocker Village, a nearly 1,600-unit complex in the Two Bridges neighborhood, is believed to be one of the few and earliest preexisting affordable housing complexes in New York City that uses facial recognition as the main means of access.
Tenants have been raising questions about the reliability of the system and the way it was installed, but say they have received little response from the owner or the state. DHCR has maintained that because Knickerbocker Village falls under a now little-used state affordability program known as Title IV, it is not subject to rent stabilization laws and the owner did not have to submit an application to install the system.
