New York Receives Hundreds of Public Comments On Proposal For Biometric Data to Access Sports Betting Accounts

• The New York State Gaming Commission is considering the use of biometric data for customers to create and access online sports betting accounts
• Executive Director Robert Williams reported the commission received its most ever public comments regarding the potential plan
• Williams said the goal is to have a proposal that will deter underage users from sports betting, but not make account access more difficult for users

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The New York State Gaming Commission is still considering a plan to potentially require customers provide biometric date to create or access New York online sports betting accounts, but has received hundreds of public comments against the proposal.

Executive Director Robert Williams this week reported the gaming commission received the most public comments is has ever received on a proposal, with the vast majority deriding the suggested use of biometric data for online sports betting access.

Earlier this year, the gaming commission announced a plan to investigate the use of the personal biometric data to access online sports betting accounts after Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) posed a challenge to the state and its gaming commission to reduce underage gambling.

Problems With Biometric Data For Sports Betting

The New York State Gaming Commission revealed in March it would begin exploring a requirement that all sports betting users provide certain biometric data to register and/or access an online sports betting accounts. These include facial recognition and fingerprint identification to ensure the user is at least 21-years-old.

The commission reported it would also explore the possibility of these particular forms of identification being used every single time a sports betting user logs into their online account.

The New York State Gaming Commission opened itself to public comment on the topic, which led to the commission receiving hundreds of e-mails from sports betting users across the Empire State.

“The commission received over 240 comments, all of which have been posted to our website. If memory serves me correctly, I believe this is the greatest number of comments the commission has received on any proposal or pre-proposal,” Williams said this week during the commission meeting.

The majority of comments were against the proposal, sharing concerns over potential data breeches, the need to provide any form of personal biometric data when account verification already requires a social security number and valid ID, and increased difficulty of accessing accounts for responsible players.

Williams said the New York State Gaming Commission staff is currently working on a proposal that will be ready for review during the commission’s next meeting. Staff is examining the proposal language to ensure it is tailored to reduce underage gaming in the state, but also “not be so intrusive as to materially inhibit access and play by those of age.”

Staff is also evaluating the need for the use of biometric data to reach this proposed goal by the governor.

“Additionally, where we have initially considered technologic solutions, we want to ensure the marketplace can readily access such. Additionally, staff is taking a hard look to ensure that we have considered alternate methods to accomplish the goals we have articulated,” Williams said.

The gaming commission will also consider speaking directly with its online sports betting license holders about any negative implications of a proposal, he said.

Public Comments Concerned With More Data

The majority of the 240 submitted public comments shared concerns over the biometric data requirements, particularly the need for facial scans and fingerprints, to access online sports betting accounts.

Many expressed concerns over the safety of handing over their data to the state for the purposes of online sports betting.

“Legal operators already verify my identity, monitor for fraud, and offer tools to help users bet responsibly. Those protections work. Adding repeated facial scans on top of them doesn’t improve anything, it just introduces a serious new privacy risk,” one New York resident wrote. “Biometric data is permanent. If my face scan is ever compromised, there’s no way to undo that. Storing that kind of sensitive information in a system the government can access should not be a baseline requirement to place a legal bet.”

A face scan is an “invasive and unnecessary” requirement to place a bet, one customer wrote. If the gaming commission should ever face a data breech, there is no way for the customer to reverse any potential damage they may face, the user wrote.

“I have no way to fix it. My face is not a password I can reset.”