Singlewire Software offers Visitor Aware solutions to help manage day-to-day visitor, volunteer, and student management responsibilities. By combining Singlewire Software's InformaCast and Visitor Aware products, customers have access to the most robust platform to help facilities and schools keep their students, faculty, staff, and visitors safe. One of the built-in security features provided by Visitor Aware is the ability to reduce false screening positives by leveraging facial recognition which also streamlines the return visitor experience. Reducing false positives during the visitor screening process helps alleviate undue stress from the individuals manning you reception areas by no longer requiring them to make a confirmation match based on the visitor information provided.
There are a few states that have active legislation limiting the use of facial recognition within the K-12 school and commercial environments. Singlewire Software actively monitors state legislation to make sure Visitor Aware's facial recognition stays in compliance for all domestic customers. Below is the latest up-to-date information on legislation pertaining to facial recognition within K-12 schools.
K12 Education Legislation
What states have legislation pertaining to facial recognition?
- New York and Florida: Do not allow the storage of facial recognition within K-12 schools.
- Colorado: Currently facial recognition isn't allowed in public schools within the state of Colorado until July 1, 2025. Facial recognition is allowed in private schools that do not receive funding.
- Illinois: Facial recognition is allowed with a few legal requirements in regard to how visitors interact with the software.
- Texas: Facial recognition is allowed with a few legal requirements in regard to how visitors interact with the software.
How does Visitor Aware stay in compliance with these state regulations?
- New York and Florida: Facial recognition storage is disabled. A visitor's state issued ID or visitor specific QR code can be scanned for check-in purposes.
- Colorado: Private K-12 schools within the state of Colorado are able to use facial recognition upon request; however, access to facial recognition is disabled by default until July 1, 2025.
- Illinois: K-12 customers located in Illinois can choose to enable or disable facial recognition to match their facility's needs. If facial recognition is enabled, each person checking in will be required to give their consent to store their biometric information, and if there's no visitor activity over a span of 36 months, their facial recognition information will be securely destroyed automatically.
- Texas: K-12 customers located in Texas can choose to enable or disable facial recognition to match their facility's needs. If facial recognition is enabled, each person checking in will be required to give their consent to store their biometric information, and if there's no visitor activity over a span of 36 months, their facial recognition information will be securely destroyed automatically.
Commercial/Enterprise Legislation
What states have legislation pertaining to facial recognition?
- Illinois: Facial recognition is allowed with a few legal requirements in regard to how visitors interact with the software.
- Texas: Facial recognition is allowed with a few legal requirements in regard to how visitors interact with the software.
How does Visitor Aware stay in compliance with these state regulations?
- Illinois: Customers located in Illinois can choose to enable or disable facial recognition to match their facility's needs. If facial recognition is enabled, each person checking in will be required to give their consent to store their biometric information, and if there's no visitor activity over a span of 36 months, their facial recognition will be securely destroyed automatically.
- Texas: Customers located in Texas can choose to enable or disable facial recognition to match their facility's needs. If facial recognition is enabled, each person checking in will be required to give their consent to store their biometric information, and if there's no visitor activity over a span of 36 months, their facial recognition will be securely destroyed automatically.
For generally asked questions and answers, please refer to our printable Q&A below:
Education:
https://documentation.singlewire.com/VisitorAware/VA-Welcome-Parent-QA.pdf
Corporate:
https://documentation.singlewire.com/VisitorAware/VA-Welcome-General-QA.pdf