Biometric technology has long been used for security and law enforcement purposes such as national security watch lists, passport controls, criminal fingerprint databases, and immigration processing. Now, however, the private sector increasingly uses these systems as a verification method for authentication that previously required a PIN or password. Apple’s decision to include a fingerprint scanner in the iPhone in 2013 brought new public awareness to possible non-law-enforcement applications of biometric technologies, and the company’s shift to facial recognition access in the most recent models further normalized the concept. Biometric technology continues to be adopted in many sectors, including financial services, transportation, health care, computer systems and facility access, and voting. In many cases, this technology is more efficient, less expensive, and easier to use than traditional alternatives, while also eliminating the need for passwords, which are broadly recognized as an insufficiently secure safeguard for user data. However, as with any digital system, there are privacy concerns around the collection, use, storage, sharing, and analysis of the data that are generated by these systems.
Perseverance Pays Off for Vermont Privacy Efforts
Vermont has become the 23rd U.S. state to enact a comprehensive consumer privacy law after Governor Scott signed S.71, the Vermont Data Privacy and Online Surveillance Act (VDPOSA), on June 16. This new law is amongst the broadest in the country, closely resembling the 2025 version of the Connecticut Data Privacy Act (CTDPA). For example, […]
Privacy Becomes You, Bayou State: A Look at the Louisiana Data Privacy Act
Louisiana has become the 22nd U.S. state to enact a comprehensive consumer privacy law—and the third this year following Oklahoma and Alabama—after Governor Landry signed the Louisiana Data Privacy Act (LDPA) (SB 386) on May 29. Overall, this is a fairly standard state privacy law that follows the Washington Privacy Act framework apart from the law’s […]
Third Time’s the Charm: Connecticut Enacts Annual Privacy Update
The Connecticut Data Privacy Act (CTDPA) has been revised multiple times since being enacted in 2022: SB 3 added heightened protections for consumer health data and for minors in 2023; and SB 1295 in 2025 expanded the law’s scope, updated and added consumer rights, modified the data minimization and purpose limitation requirements, prescribed impact assessment […]
Contextualizing the Proposed SECURE Data Act in the State Privacy Landscape
Special thanks to FPF’s Dr. Gabriela Zanfir-Fortuna, VP of Global Policy, for her contributions to this analysis. The House Committee on Energy and Commerce’s Republican data privacy working group released their long-awaited comprehensive consumer privacy bill on April 22, titled the “Securing and Establishing Consumer Uniform Rights and Enforcement over Data Act” (SECURE Data Act) […]
The Alabama Personal Data Protection Act Brings Consumer Privacy to the Heart of Dixie
We had to wait almost two years between when the 19th and 20th state comprehensive privacy laws were enacted, but the gap between the 20th and 21st proved to be a mere month. Governor Ivey signed HB 351, the Alabama Personal Data Protection Act (APDPA) into law on April 16. While this law is based […]
Red Lines under the EU AI Act: Restricting Real-time Remote Biometric Identification Systems for Law Enforcement Purposes
Blog 8 | Red Lines under the EU AI Act Series This blog is the eighth of a series that explores prohibited AI practices under the EU AI Act and their interplay with existing EU law. You can find the whole series here. The eighth blog in the “Red lines under the EU AI Act” series […]
Red Lines under the EU AI Act: Understanding the prohibition of biometric categorization for certain sensitive characteristics
Blog 7 | Red Lines under the EU AI Act Series This blog is the seventh of a series that explores prohibited AI practices under the EU AI Act and their interplay with existing EU law. You can find the whole series here. The EU AI Act provides for rules on prohibited AI practices that the […]
Red Lines under EU AI Act: Unpacking the prohibition of emotion recognition in the workplace and education institutions
Blog 6 | Red Lines under the EU AI Act Series This blog is the sixth of a series that explores prohibited AI practices under the EU AI Act and their interplay with existing EU law. You can find the whole series here. The sixth blog in the “Red lines under the EU AI Act” […]
Privacy Protections Coming Sooner Rather Than Later to the Sooner State
Oklahoma has become the latest U.S. state to enact a comprehensive consumer privacy law after Governor Stitt signed SB 546 into law on March 20. This ends two long legislative droughts: First, this is the long-awaited 20th state comprehensive privacy law and the first since the Rhode Island Data Transparency and Privacy Protection Act was […]
Red Lines under the EU AI Act: Understanding the ban of the untargeted scraping of facial images and facial recognition databases
Blog 5 | Red Lines under the EU AI Act Series This blog is the fifth of a series that explores prohibited AI practices under the EU AI Act and their interplay with existing EU law. You can find the whole series here. 1. Introduction The fifth blog in the “Red lines under the EU AI […]