Stop Biometric Surveillance by Law Enforcement Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7235 To prohibit use of facial recognition technology on any image acquired by body-worn cameras of law enforcement officers, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 18, 2020 Mr. BEYER (for himself, Mrs. HAYES, Mr. HECK, Mr. RUSH, Mr. SAN NICO- LAS, Mr. RASKIN, and Ms. NORTON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Homeland Security, for a period to be subsequently deter- mined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To prohibit use of facial recognition technology on any image acquired by body-worn cameras of law enforcement offi- cers, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Stop Biometric Sur- 4 veillance by Law Enforcement Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:31 Jul 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7235.IH H7235 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7235 IH (1) Facial recognition and other biometric sur- 1 veillance technology pose unique and significant 2 threats to the civil rights and civil liberties of resi- 3 dents and visitors. 4 (2) The use of facial recognition and other bio- 5 metric surveillance is the functional equivalent of re- 6 quiring every person to show a personal photo iden- 7 tification card at all times in violation of recognized 8 constitutional rights. This technology also allows 9 people to be tracked without consent. 10 (3) It would also generate massive databases 11 about law-abiding Americans, and may chill the ex- 12 ercise of free speech in public places. 13 (4) Facial recognition and other biometric sur- 14 veillance technology has been repeatedly dem- 15 onstrated to misidentify women, young people, and 16 people of color and to create an elevated risk of 17 harmful ‘‘false positive’’ identifications. 18 (5) Facial and other biometric surveillance 19 would corrupt the core purpose of officer-worn body- 20 worn cameras by transforming those devices from 21 transparency and accountability tools into roving 22 surveillance systems. 23 (6) The use of facial recognition and other bio- 24 metric surveillance would disproportionately impact 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:31 Jul 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7235.IH H7235 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7235 IH the civil rights and civil liberties of persons who live 1 in highly policed communities. 2 (7) Its use would also diminish effective polic- 3 ing and public safety by discouraging people in these 4 communities, including victims of crime, undocu- 5 mented persons, people with unpaid fines and fees, 6 and those with prior criminal history from seeking 7 police assistance or from assisting the police. 8 SEC. 3. PROHIBITING USE OF FACIAL RECOGNITION TECH- 9 NOLOGY AND OTHER BIOMETRIC SURVEIL- 10 LANCE SYSTEMS. 11 (a) BYRNE GRANT.— 12 (1) PROHIBITION.—A State or unit of local 13 government may not use facial recognition tech- 14 nology or other biometric surveillance systems on 15 any image acquired by body-worn cameras of law en- 16 forcement officers. 17 (2) ENFORCEMENT.—In the case that a State 18 or unit of local government violates paragraph (1), 19 the Attorney General shall reduce by 5 percent the 20 amount that the State or unit of local government 21 would have otherwise received under subpart 1 of 22 part E of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and 23 Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10151 et seq.). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:31 Jul 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7235.IH H7235 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 7235 IH (3) REALLOCATION.—Amounts not allocated to 1 a State or unit of local government that violates 2 paragraph (1) shall be reallocated, in accordance 3 with subpart 1 of part E of title I of the Omnibus 4 Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 5 U.S.C. 10151 et seq.), to States and units of local 6 government that have complied with such paragraph 7 (1). 8 (b) URBAN AREA SECURITY INITIATIVE GRANT.— 9 (1) PROHIBITION.—A high-risk urban area may 10 not use facial recognition technology or other bio- 11 metric surveillance systems on any image acquired 12 by body-worn cameras of law enforcement officers. 13 (2) ENFORCEMENT.—In the case that a high- 14 risk urban area violates paragraph (1), the Adminis- 15 trator of the Federal Emergency Management Agen- 16 cy shall reduce by 5 percent the amount that the 17 high-risk urban area would have otherwise received 18 under section 2003 of the Homeland Security Act of 19 2002 (6 U.S.C. 101 et seq.). 20 (3) REALLOCATION.—Amounts not allocated to 21 a high-risk urban area that violates paragraph (1) 22 shall be reallocated, in accordance with section 2003 23 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:31 Jul 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7235.IH H7235 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 7235 IH 101 et seq.), to high-risk urban areas that have com- 1 plied with such paragraph (1). 2 (c) STATE HOMELAND SECURITY GRANT.— 3 (1) PROHIBITION.—A State may not use facial 4 recognition technology or other biometric surveil- 5 lance systems on any image acquired by body-worn 6 cameras of law enforcement officers. 7 (2) ENFORCEMENT.—In the case that a State 8 violates paragraph (1), the Administrator of the 9 Federal Emergency Management Agency shall re- 10 duce by 5 percent the amount that the high-risk 11 urban area would have otherwise received under sec- 12 tion 2004 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 13 U.S.C. 101 et seq.). 14 (3) REALLOCATION.—Amounts not allocated to 15 a State that violates paragraph (1) shall be reallo- 16 cated, in accordance with section 2004 of the Home- 17 land Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 101 et seq.), to 18 States that have complied with such paragraph (1). 19 (d) FEDERAL PROHIBITION.—A Federal law enforce- 20 ment agency may not use facial recognition technology or 21 other biometric surveillance systems on any image ac- 22 quired by body-worn cameras of law enforcement officers. 23 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:31 Jul 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7235.IH H7235 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 7235 IH (1) BIOMETRIC DATA.—The term ‘‘biometric 1 data’’ means a physiological, biological, or behavioral 2 characteristic that can be used, singly or in combina- 3 tion with each other or with other information, to es- 4 tablish individual identity. 5 (2) BIOMETIC SURVEILLANCE SYSTEM.—The 6 term ‘‘biometric surveillance system’’ means any 7 computer software or application that performs fa- 8 cial recognition or other biometric surveillance. 9 (3) BODY-WORN CAMERA.—The term ‘‘body- 10 worn camera’’ means an officer camera or similar 11 device that records or transmits images or sound 12 and is attached to the body or clothing of, or carried 13 by, a law enforcement officer. 14 (4) FACIAL RECOGNITION TECHNOLOGY OR 15 OTHER BIOMETRIC SURVEILLANCE.—The term ‘‘fa- 16 cial recognition technology or other biometric sur- 17 veillance’’— 18 (A) means an automated or semiautomated 19 process that— 20 (i) captures or analyzes biometric data 21 of an individual to identify or assist in 22 identifying an individual; or 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:31 Jul 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7235.IH H7235 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 7235 IH (ii) generates, or assists in generating, 1 surveillance information about an indi- 2 vidual based on biometric data; and 3 (B) does not include the use of an auto- 4 mated or semiautomated process for the pur- 5 pose of redacting a recording for release or dis- 6 closure outside the law enforcement agency to 7 protect the privacy of a subject depicted in the 8 recording, if the process does not generate or 9 result in the retention of any biometric data or 10 surveillance information. 11 (5) USE.—The term ‘‘use’’ means one or both 12 of the following: 13 (A) The direct use of a biometric surveil- 14 lance system by a law enforcement officer or a 15 law enforcement agency. 16 (B) A request or agreement by a law en- 17 forcement officer or law enforcement agency 18 that another law enforcement agency or other 19 third party use a biometric surveillance system 20 on behalf of the requesting officer or agency. 21 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:31 Jul 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H7235.IH H7235 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS