Residents of Brooklyn Building Furious Over Landlord's Attempt to Install Facial Recognition Technology

Residents of a Brooklyn building want their landlord to face facts and ditch plans to install facial recognition technology in their building.

The tenants of more than 700 apartments at the Atlantic Plaza towers in Brownsville are currently fighting the decision to replace the key FOB entry they use now with a biometric security system.

“It’s my biometrics, it’s my identity and we don’t want that in anyone’s hands,” said tenant Tasliym Francis.

The building now has residents use a key fob for three separate doors to get inside. The landlord filed an application last year to get that system replaced with the proposed one utilizing facial recognition. The request has yet to be approved.

“This is definitely something we do not want and do not need it,” said Francis.

Biometric security is growing in popularity, being commonly used at airports and more recently at the gate as more airlines test out the technology.

But the Brownsville residents say it has no place in their home.

“Why does my face need to be recognized with a scanner as well storing my biometric data along with a JPEG of my face?” asked tenant Tranae Moraw. “Why is that necessary?”

The management group of Atlantic Plaza Towers says safety is their priority.

“The sole goal of implementing this technology is to advance that priority and support the safety and security of residents,” the group said in a statement, adding that any data collected is encrypted and won’t be shared with third parties.

Residents argue that it is not an issue of safety — it’s about gentrification.

The Department of Buildings says technologies like facial recognition are not prohibited, but can only be in addition to a more traditional key-based system.