WHAT THIS BILL REGULATES · 1 REQUIREMENT TYPE
How Is This Bill Enforced
Verbatim statutory text on the left; plain-language analysis and a per-section checklist on the right. Numbered markers cross-link to the matching checklist row.
(a)(1) In this section the following words have the meanings indicated.
(a)(2) "EmployerEmployer"Employer" includes a unit of State or local government.Lab. & Empl. § 3-717(a)(2)" includes a unit of State or local government.
(a)(3) "Facial recognition serviceFacial recognition service"Facial recognition service" means technology that analyzes facial features and is used for recognition or persistent tracking of individuals in still or video images.Lab. & Empl. § 3-717(a)(3)" means technology that analyzes facial features and is used for recognition or persistent tracking of individuals in still or video images.
(a)(4) "Facial templateFacial template"Facial template" means the machine–interpretable pattern of facial features that is extracted from one or more images of an individual by a facial recognition service.Lab. & Empl. § 3-717(a)(4)" means the machine–interpretable pattern of facial features that is extracted from one or more images of an individual by a facial recognition serviceFacial recognition service"Facial recognition service" means technology that analyzes facial features and is used for recognition or persistent tracking of individuals in still or video images.Lab. & Empl. § 3-717(a)(3).
This subsection provides the definitions used throughout the section. The bill's sole operative change is in subdivision (a)(2), which adds a new definition of Employer to include units of State or local government, thereby extending the facial recognition consent requirement to government hiring processes. The definitions of facial recognition service and facial template are re-enacted without change, though the definition of facial template is renumbered from (a)(3) to (a)(4) to accommodate the new employer definition.
(b) 1 An employerEmployer"Employer" includes a unit of State or local government.Lab. & Empl. § 3-717(a)(2) may not use a facial recognition serviceFacial recognition service"Facial recognition service" means technology that analyzes facial features and is used for recognition or persistent tracking of individuals in still or video images.Lab. & Empl. § 3-717(a)(3) for the purpose of creating a facial templateFacial template"Facial template" means the machine–interpretable pattern of facial features that is extracted from one or more images of an individual by a facial recognition service.Lab. & Empl. § 3-717(a)(4) during an applicant's interview for employment unless an applicant consents under subsection (c) of this section.
Subsection (b) contains the operative prohibition: employers — now including State and local government units — may not use a facial recognition service to create a facial template during an applicant's interview for employment unless the applicant consents under subsection (c). This provision is re-enacted without change; the expanded scope results solely from the new definition of Employer in subsection (a)(2).
(c)(1)–(2) 2 An applicant may consent to the use of facial recognition serviceFacial recognition service"Facial recognition service" means technology that analyzes facial features and is used for recognition or persistent tracking of individuals in still or video images.Lab. & Empl. § 3-717(a)(3) technology during an interview by signing a waiver. (2) The waiver signed under paragraph (1) of this subsection shall state in plain language: (i) the applicant's name; (ii) the date of the interview; (iii) that the applicant consents to the use of facial recognition during the interview; and (iv) whether the applicant read the consent waiver.
Subsection (c) specifies how an applicant may consent to facial recognition use during an interview: the applicant must sign a waiver in plain language that states the applicant's name, the interview date, that the applicant consents to facial recognition use, and whether the applicant read the consent waiver. These waiver requirements are re-enacted without change.
AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That this Act shall take effect October 1, 2023.
Section 2 provides that the Act shall take effect October 1, 2023. As the bill did not advance, this date is inoperative.