Biometrics Special Committee Minutes of October 8, 2020, submitted for review on December 3, 2020 and proposed for approval on

December 10, 2020.

Healthy’ order and Proclamation 20-28. Committee members present included Commissioner Calkins and

Commissioner Cho. Also present were Eric Schinfeld, Senior Manager, Federal Policy; Veronica Valdez,

Commission Specialist; Michelle M. Hart, Commission Clerk; Lauren Smith, Deputy Commission Clerk, and

a Panel of Biometrics External Advisory Group Members.

Call to Order:

The committee special meeting was called to order at 11:31 a.m. by Commissioner Calkins.

Attachments provided to the committee and the public:

• Memo

The Committee received a presentation from Eric Schinfeld and Veronica Valdez. The presentation

addressed:

• history and background of creation of the internal working group and the task assigned to them as a

result of a 2019 Commission Motion 2019-13;

• the importance of the external advisory group, their role and contributions to the recommended

policies brought forward;

• that not all recommendations from the external advisory group are incorporated and this presentation

in no way a vote or sign-off from the external advisory group members - the recommendations before

the committee are that of staff alone;

• the purpose of the internal working group -not to give a recommendation to use or not to use

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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2020.

• the use case of biometric air exit had previously been presented and approved by the full

Commission in March and per Commission Motion 2020-15 - a moratorium is still in place on the use

• two use cases discussed for optional uses of biometric technology - one case surrounding the use

of private systems and one use case of a Port-owned and operated system;

• the policy as constructed would require any such use be voluntary and opt in - staff gave the example

of the current use of Clear at Sea-Tac;

• including recommendations requiring any use to go through approval from the Port with a review

process of how the technology would be implemented in accordance with the policy

recommendations and seven principles from the Commission motion;

• the reiterated policy requirement that these use cases be completely voluntary and opt in, meaning

travelers must actively enroll, provide their biometric information, and opt in at the time of service;

• another use case discussed regarding Air and Cruise entry for arriving international passengers - in

requesting audits of the technology to create accountability reports and an engagement plan with the

community to make them aware of opt out options and provide information on the technology and its

uses;

• the Port of Seattle is the first local agency to do an assessment of biometric technology and staff

reiterated that it will continue to advocate for state and federal guidance and regulations surrounding

biometric technologies;

• committee members’ ask for clarity around opt-in programs and what those look like in practice;

• discussion surrounding what might happen if a vendor already uses biometric technology - it was

noted that when leases are up for renewal, they would have to go through this review process in

order to continue its use; and

and seaports.

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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2020.

Panel of Biometrics External Advisory Group Members:

The committee received a presentation from Yasmine Medhi, District Director, Office of US Representative

Pramila Jayapal; Frank Torres, Director of Public Policy – Office for Responsible AI, Microsoft Corporation,

and Jennifer Lee, Technology and Liberty Manager, American Civil Liberties Union of Washington.

• Yasmine Medhi, representing Pramila Jayapal’s office, commended the Port of Seattle for engaging

in this work surrounding biometric technology.

• Representative Jayapal’s office is especially concerned about the use of biometric technology for

• Mr. Torres discussed how biometric technology has changed over the years and likely will continue

to evolve - voluntary programs using biometric technology are beneficial to the users, as well as

advancing the technology.

• Jennifer Lee, on behalf of the ACLU of Washington urged rejection of use of biometric technology.

• The ACLU does not believe the current or proposed uses of this technology can be implemented

consistently with the seven principles passed by the Port of Seattle in December 2019.

• Ms. Lee emphasized disagreeing with the Port’s interpretation and application of the seven guiding

principles, stating that accuracy is not equity and increased efficiency does not mean the use is

justified.

• Ms. Lee also noted that the ACLU of Washington defines mass surveillance differently than the Port,

Commission and discussed another public biometric committee meeting in November or December

2020.

Adjournment:

There being no further business, the special meeting was adjourned 1:05 p.m.

Prepared: Attest:

Lauren Smith, Deputy Commission Clerk Ryan Calkins, Biometrics Special Committee Co-Chair