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Architects, engineers and construction project managers employed by the New York City Department of Design and Construction in Long Island City donned surgical gloves Monday in protest of the use of biometric palm print scanners, a new timekeeping system the city is seeking to employ.

This is not the first department in which the city has implemented this change. The Conflict of Interests Board switched over to this system a few months ago, and for the most part, it was successful, according to Mark Davies, executive director.

“On the whole, resistance has been relatively small,” Davies said. “Initially there was confusion, but the support was there. CityTime sent someone every time there was any problem with the system.”

While the Conflict of Interests Board may have had a smooth transition into using the biometric system, it is a relatively small agency, employing approximately 20 people. In addition, it did not transition from one electronic monitoring system to another, as is the case with the DDC.

“The biometric scanners are invasive, offensive and our members do not want them,” said Local 375 president, Claude Fort. “The union considers the order to employees to submit to palm print scans to be an invasion of privacy.”

Local 375 has asked the city to place a hold on the implementation of the project, named CityTime, but was told last week that the project would go forward. The union is planning to file an unfair labor practice charge against the city this coming Monday.

“We have no problem putting in an automated, or more efficient time accounting system,” said Local 375 vice president Jon Forster. “However, they have told us that this is a policy decision, not a technical one. They can trust us with $20 million projects and public safety, but not to time-in properly? It’s offensive.”

Another fear expressed by Alan Saly, a spokesman for Local 375, is what will happen to the information, such as fingerprints, once it is collected by the city? While he noted that the city has said that the prints will be used for nothing other than timekeeping, he does not believe the future around this information is certain. “As administrations change, policies change,” Saly said. “So while this administration might be saying they won’t use this information for anything else, there’s no guarantee it won’t ever get used.”

Dana Marohn, a consultant for International Biometric Group, a company that specializes in the integration of biometrics into agencies such as DCC, believes that both parties can have what they want in this predicament.

“People want to come to a consensus and that’s definitely possible,” Marohn said. “The considerations just need to be understood before deployment.”

One of the biggest considerations that requires understanding is that of privacy. Marohn described a system in which it is very possible to have fingerprints in use to combat potentially fraudulent acts such as “buddy punching,” where a friend swipes a time card for another friend.

“An individual can hold and be in control of his or her information,” Marohn said. “Smart cards can hold fingerprints, so it doesn’t have to be held by a city database.”

In the system Marohn described, an employee would be charged with the care of his or her personal information. Once the smart card was swiped to punch in for work, it would then prompt a fingerprint verification compared to that person’s fingerprint already stored on the smart card. This way, the city is able to combat fraudulent time punches, and each individual is able to retain control over their vital information, ensuring it cannot be misused in any future scenario. This solution would seemingly address both parties’ concerns.

CityTime is a project of the Office of Payroll Administration. The group could not be reached for comment.