Every person should have a choice about who collects, shares, and makes money from their highly personal data, whether it’s their browsing history or biometric information, such as faceprints, voiceprints, or fingerprints. Two bills before the state Senate Appropriations Committee would put Californians in control by limiting what private data companies can collect and giving people the ability to hold companies accountable in court when their data is misused.

We strongly urge committee chair Sen. Anthony J. Portantino, D-La Cañada Flintridge, to pass the Biometric Information Privacy Act (Senate Bill 1189) and the Student Test Taker Privacy Protection Act (Senate Bill 1172) to build a path for stronger privacy protections and further cement California’s role as a leader in privacy protection nationwide.

Both bills are co-sponsored by the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, with the support of many leading nonprofit advocacy groups fighting for privacy rights for consumers, students, and other private residents.

Think of all the cameras that capture your image every day, on digital devices and inside and outside stores, businesses and residences. Advancements in biometric technology make covert biometric data collection increasingly easy, to the great detriment of free speech, free association, and the right to live life without constant surveillance—cornerstones of a democratic society. What’s more, we regularly see biometric data misused to heighten socioeconomic disparities that disproportionately harm people of color and minority communities.

SB 1189, the Biometric Information Privacy Act, authored by Sen. Bob Wieckowski, D-Fremont, requires private entities to obtain your explicit opt-in consent before collecting  biometric information related to your unique biological, physiological, and behavioral patterns, like the shape of your face, the rhythm of your walk, and the ridges of your fingerprints.

Like the landmark Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act that allowed that state’s Facebook users to win a $650 million settlement from Facebook for collecting their faceprints without their permission, SB 1189 gives Californians the right to sue companies that violate the law.

SB 1172, also known as the Student Test Taker Privacy Protection Act, is groundbreaking legislation born from California students fighting back against aggressive and unnecessary collection of biometric data and other private information—like browsing history and citizenship status—by remote exam proctoring companies.

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Since the onset of the global pandemic, there has been a 500 percent increase in the use of remote proctoring tools among higher learning institutions. Despite data breaches and push back from federal lawmakers, the California Supreme Court, students and teachers battling bias toward non-white faces, and students with disabilities, there is no law in place to protect students’ privacy or stop the proctoring companies from selling their private data to the highest bidder. Students rarely have a choice to opt out and often risk failing a test or class if they don’t use the proctoring tools required by their institutions.

The 2018 California Consumer Privacy Act and the 2020 California Privacy Rights Act were a start in privacy rights protection. But the global biometrics market is estimated to reach $82.8 billion by 2027. The rapid growth in this evolving field has already outpaced current laws and should not go unchecked.  We have an opportunity to lead the country toward more secure privacy protections for everyone with a face.

Let’s get Senate Bills 1189 and 1172 passed through the Appropriations Committee and Senate floor and send them onward to the state Assembly and Gov. Gavin Newsom for swift enactment.

Hayley Tsukayama is a Bay Area resident and a Senior Legislative Activist at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, focusing on state legislation related to EFF’s core issues of digital privacy, free speech, and innovation.