The Mamdani administration has hit the brakes on an Adams administration-era push to get Lyft to use facial recognition to verify the age of Citi Bike riders, the Daily News has learned.
Multiple sources confirmed that the administration has asked the ride-share giant — which administers the Citi Bike program for the city — not to roll out a system that would, in part, utilize facial-recognition technology to ensure riders are above the minimum age of 16.
A City Hall spokesman confirmed Wednesday that the administration is concerned Lyft’s system could put the personally identifying data of Citi Bike riders, especially minors, at risk of being hacked.
“The safety of young New Yorkers is our top priority, whether they’re on a bike or online,” Jeremy Edwards said in a statement. “We appreciate Lyft’s efforts to protect young riders and to explore age-appropriate access to Citi Bike that preserves data privacy, security, accuracy and equity.”
Sources told The News that city officials have also expressed concern regarding facial recognition’s tendency toward misidentifying the age of younger users — a tendency currently being studied by the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
Concerns were also raised by Mamdani’s City Hall about the potential for racial bias in use of facial recognition, sources said.
Citi Bike was examining using biometric screening — using photos or videos of prospective riders’ faces — to verify if they were old enough to ride, sources told The News.
The use of biometrics has been controversial, and privacy advocates have warned the practice could be ripe for identity theft and that customers’ biometric data could be shared with law enforcement.
Lyft first announced it would be requiring age verification last August, after a request from the administration of then-Mayor Eric Adams.
Adams’ first deputy mayor, Randy Mastro, had directed the firm to find a way to keep underage riders off of Citi Bikes, citing an Op-Ed in this newspaper by venture capitalist and political strategist Bradley Tusk.
Mamdani’s intervention leaves the status of whether the bike-share program will add on age verification uncertain.
“I still hope that they care about the safety of kids and that they will work with Citi Bike to find a real solution,” Tusk said. “What would be a shame if they put ideological theory ahead of physical safety.”
Both men had suggested the company use government-issued IDs to verify riders’ age. But a Lyft spokesman told The News Wednesday that people who chose not to upload IDs — or, like many minors, had no ID — would have had their age verified through a selfie.
As an Assembly member, Mamdani was critical of digital surveillance, especially by the NYPD. He sponsored state legislation that would have prohibited law enforcement from creating fake electronic communication service accounts and collecting users’ account information — legislation that ultimately failed.
As mayor, though, Mamdani has said little about the Police Department’s surveillance practices and has not taken any public steps to change the NYPD’s use of facial-recognition technology, drones and other surveillance devices.
Last month, in response to reporting by Wired Magazine on the use of facial recognition for surveillance at Madison Square Garden, Mamdani called such monitoring a “point of immense concern.”
“It’s deeply troubling, these reports of the extensive nature of surveillance,” he said about the article, which detailed how MSG owner Jim Dolan’s security team has snooped on attendees by using facial recognition both inside and even outside the bounds of the arena.
Mamdani’s stance stands in contrast to Adams, who championed the use of drones and facial-recognition technology.
“Many of our electeds are afraid,” Adams told Politico in 2022. ”Anything technology they think, ‘Oh it’s a boogeyman. It’s Big Brother watching you.’ No, Big Brother is protecting you.”
