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Stakeholders urge narrowing of expansive biometric and license‑plate reader draft
Summary
The committee reviewed 27 LSO 33, which would severely limit government use of biometric identifiers and automatic license‑plate readers. State agencies and law enforcement warned the draft—if unchanged—could block background checks, child‑protection workflows, missing‑person investigations and vehicle enforcement; lawmakers agreed narrower, separate bills and targeted exemptions should be considered.
Talise Hansen presented bill draft 27 LSO 33 (version 0.4), proposing a broad prohibition on governmental collection, retention, access, use, purchase or sale of biometric data and banning placement of automated license‑plate reader systems on public property absent limited law‑enforcement exceptions. "The bill draft would prohibit governmental entities from obtaining, retaining, possessing, accessing, requesting, or using biometric data to identify a person or verify a person's identity," Hansen said, outlining exceptions that require warrants for violent‑felony investigations, missing‑person cases, and certain port‑of‑entry enforcement.
Multiple state agencies and public‑safety organizations urged the committee to narrow the draft. Wyoming Department of Transportation officials described current and planned uses of facial recognition for driver‑license processes, mobile DL, online portal authentication and electronic lien and titling — uses that could be blocked by the draft as written. The Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation, the ICAC task force and prosecutors explained the draft’s violent‑felony threshold and short retention periods would hinder routine investigations (burglary scene fingerprinting, CSAM analysis, geolocation warrants) and jeopardize federal data‑sharing obligations tied to fingerprint repositories and the National Crime Information Center.
Law‑enforcement leaders and the Wyoming Association of Sheriffs and Chiefs of Police recommended separating biometric rules from LPR policy because the two raise different technical and operational issues. Airports and trucking interests asked for clearer exemptions for tolling, parking enforcement and TSA/Homeland Security compliance.
Several privacy advocates and industry speakers supported broad protections and urged strict limits on commercial retention and resale of LPR or biometric data. After extended testimony the chair and co‑chair signaled an intent to split the package, focus next on a narrowed LPR bill, and refine biometric provisions in later drafts. The committee asked LSO to redraft accordingly and requested more targeted language on fingerprint exceptions, warrants, retention periods, and contractual limits for third‑party vendors.
