AIA New York Opposition to Contractor Monitoring Software Bill
AIANY is expressing its strong opposition to Int. 1602, a New York City Council bill which would push the City to use software to monitor City contractors. Contractor monitoring software tracks computer usage of individual employees of government contractors, such as architecture firms. A private corporation, which develops and monitors the software, would have access to information on the computer usage of individual architects at any firm doing business with the City; this would include the ability to take screenshots of contract workers’ computers, as well as logging keystrokes and mouse movements.
It is unknown what this information could and would be used for, and how safe it is from hacking threats. Furthermore, it is impossible to quantify the quality of design based on computer usage, as much design work takes place away from computers. Evaluating the quality of design work based on computer usage is a poor practice that no client, including the City, should follow.
Throughout the country, a single company that produces contractor monitoring software has been paying lobbyists to introduce similar pieces of legislation. During the recently concluded 2019 session of the New York State Legislature, a similar piece of legislation, S5398, was defeated. Fortunately, legislation enabling the monitoring software’s use has not passed in any state or municipality.
In order to protect privacy of its members, and ensure a fair evaluation of their work, AIANY strongly opposes Int. 1602. AIANY calls on the City Council and Mayor de Blasio to prevent this dangerous bill from becoming law.
Sincerely,
Benjamin Prosky, Assoc. AIA
Executive Director
Hayes Slade, AIA
2019 President