Facial recognition in job interviews in Maryland: the consent waiver rule explained

Maryland has a short law aimed at one specific AI use in hiring: facial recognition during job interviews. It was passed as House Bill 1202 in 2020, became Chapter 446 of the 2020 Laws of Maryland, and took effect on 1 October 2020 (Chapter 446 (HB 1202); HB 1202 bill page). It sits in the Labor and Employment Article as section 3-717 (Md. Code, Lab. & Empl. 3-717). This page explains what it requires of employers and what it means for applicants.

The short answer: an employer may not use a facial recognition service to create a facial template during an applicant's interview unless the applicant consents by signing a waiver, and the waiver must state in plain language the applicant's name, the interview date, that the applicant consents to facial recognition during the interview, and whether the applicant read the waiver (3-717(b)-(c)).

What the law covers

• Facial recognition service: "technology that analyzes facial features and is used for recognition or persistent tracking of individuals in still or video images" (3-717(a)(2)).
• Facial template: "the machine-interpretable pattern of facial features that is extracted from one or more images of an individual by a facial recognition service" (3-717(a)(3)).
• The rule: the ban is on using such a service "for the purpose of creating a facial template during an applicant's interview for employment" without a signed waiver (3-717(b)). It covers interviews of applicants. The text does not mention current employees, other hiring stages, or other kinds of video analysis.

The waiver

Consent is given "by signing a waiver" (3-717(c)(1)). The waiver must state, in plain language (3-717(c)(2)):

• the applicant's name;
• the date of the interview;
• that the applicant consents to the use of facial recognition during the interview; and
• whether the applicant read the consent waiver.

The section does not prescribe a form, a time limit for keeping templates, or a rule on sharing them, and it does not itself set out a penalty or a separate enforcement procedure. Employers should check those points with a Maryland employment lawyer rather than assume there are none.

What this means in practice

• Employers: ask every video interview or identity verification vendor whether its tool analyzes faces to recognize or track people and builds a facial template. If it does, collect a signed waiver with the four required items before the interview, keep it, and have a route for applicants who decline. Write the waiver in plain language, as the law requires.
• Applicants: if you are asked to sign a facial recognition waiver, check that it names you, the interview date and what you are consenting to. If you do not sign, the employer may not use facial recognition to create a facial template in that interview.
• Multistate hiring: other states regulate video interviews differently. Illinois requires notice, an explanation and consent before AI analyzes video interviews, and California's anti-discrimination regulations warn that tools analyzing facial expressions may discriminate and may call for an accommodation.

For those rules, see Illinois AI hiring laws and California AI employment rules. Illinois also regulates face geometry scans more broadly under its biometric privacy law: see Illinois BIPA at work. For the wider picture, see AI in hiring. Maryland also bars employers from asking for personal account passwords: see the Maryland social media password law.

This page covers Maryland and is general information based on the statute text and chapter law published by the Maryland General Assembly when checked on 3 November 2026, not legal advice.