The bank tells employees to enroll fingerprints or iris scans to enter its $3 billion Manhattan headquarters, sparking a fresh debate over workplace surveillance and security.

New York — JPMorgan Chase has asked staff to share their biometric data for access to its new Manhattan headquarters at 270 Park Avenue, making fingerprint or iris enrollment a requirement for most employees entering through the lobby turnstiles. The shift — first signaled in recent internal communications — replaces traditional plastic badges for daily entry and marks one of the most expansive deployments of biometrics in a U.S. office tower.

The 60‑story, 2.5‑million‑square‑foot tower, designed by Foster + Partners and widely billed as a $3 billion project, has been opening in phases since August. When fully occupied later this year, it is expected to host around 10,000 employees. JPMorgan has framed the transition as a security and efficiency upgrade: scans are fast, hard to share or spoof, and simplify movement through high‑traffic lobbies. But the requirement also elevates longstanding concerns about privacy, consent, and the permanence of biometric identifiers.

In messages to staff, managers have described the biometric checkpoints as the standard way to pass through the main lobby gates, with narrow exemptions still being clarified. The bank has declined to discuss details publicly, including how exemptions will work and what alternatives will be offered for employees who cannot — or do not want to — enroll. Security specialists say the scale alone is notable: while fingerprints and iris scans have long been used in data centers and trading floors, it is rare to see a blanket policy for a commercial high‑rise of this size.

The backdrop is a broader recalibration of office life after the pandemic. Chief Executive Jamie Dimon has pressed for a robust return to in‑person work and rolled back hybrid arrangements, arguing face‑to‑face collaboration lifts productivity. The new building, which includes wellness spaces and nearly twenty food outlets, is meant to anchor that cultural reset — and tighter access controls are part of the package.

Privacy advocates counter that biometric data, unlike passwords, cannot be reissued if compromised. Even with encryption and on‑device matching, they warn, centralized templates can be attractive targets. Labor groups and white‑collar organizers say they are fielding questions from bank employees about opt‑out rights, data retention periods, and whether biometric records could eventually be linked to attendance, performance, or movement analytics within the building.

Legal experts note that New York City’s Biometric Identifier Information law requires clear notice and bars the sale of biometric data, but it does not categorically prohibit employers from collecting it for security purposes. Compliance hinges on transparent disclosures, strong vendor controls, and retention‑deletion schedules. For a global bank with operations in states and countries that impose stricter rules — from Illinois’ BIPA to parts of the EU — harmonizing policies can be complex and costly.

JPMorgan, like many large employers, has experimented with frictionless access systems at other sites on a voluntary basis. Making enrollment effectively mandatory at the flagship headquarters is a step change. The move follows a summer of headline‑grabbing security incidents in Midtown and a general tightening of corporate building protocols across Manhattan, according to property managers.

Technology vendors say modern readers can authenticate in under a second, with liveness detection to thwart spoofing, and support privacy‑preserving modes in which matching happens on secure elements or mobile devices. Still, even best‑in‑class systems rely on governance: who has access, what logs are kept, how long data is retained, and what happens when an employee leaves.

For staff, the day‑to‑day experience will be simple: walk up, scan, and go. For the bank, the stakes are larger. Rolling out mass biometrics at a marquee address will test both the technology and the trust of a workforce already navigating new norms about when and how they work. How JPMorgan answers questions on consent, transparency, and redress could set a template other blue‑chip employers will follow — or a cautionary tale they will study from across the street.

What to watch next: whether exemptions are broadened; whether the program expands to other JPMorgan sites or remains confined to 270 Park; how regulators and lawmakers respond; and whether rival banks and landlords accelerate similar deployments as corporate New York doubles down on in‑person office life.

Sources:

• Financial Times reporting on JPMorgan’s biometric enrollment at 270 Park Avenue (Oct. 10–11, 2025).

• The Times (London) coverage of mandatory biometrics at the new HQ (Oct. 11, 2025).

• Daily Beast summary of employee enrollment requirements (Oct. 11, 2025).

• Morning Brew/Entrepreneur briefings on the policy and building details (Oct. 10–11, 2025).