Recognizing the Threats: Congress Must Impose a Moratorium on Law Enforcement Use of Facial Recognition Tech
The House has largely been locked in partisan conflict since the January 6 insurrection, but when it comes to concerns about law enforcement use of facial recognition, it can be difficult to tell the difference between Republican and Democratic representatives. In July, the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security held a hearing on this subject, and members of both parties all appeared to agree that law enforcement use of facial recognition technology poses serious threats to privacy, civil liberties, and civil rights.
The Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT) has joined with allies in calling for Congress to enact a moratorium on the use of facial recognition for law enforcement and immigration enforcement purposes. CDT has long urged that this technology poses severe risks to civil liberties and civil rights, and that congressional oversight and legislation are needed to address these risks. But what, if anything, will Congress actually do?
A bill already introduced in Congress — the Facial Recognition and Biometric Technology Moratorium Act — would impose a moratorium on federal government use of facial recognition technology until Congress can enact a comprehensive set of rules to mitigate the threats to human rights. This proposed legislation — which would cover all government use of biometric surveillance tools — provides a very helpful framework for addressing the risks from law enforcement and immigration enforcement use of facial recognition.
Coalition Urges Senate Not to Let Companies Waive Financial Regulations for AI
CDT joined AI Now Institute, American Civil Liberties Union, and several organizations dedicated to tech policy, consumer protection, and civil rights in a letter to Senate leadership and the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee opposing the “AI Innovation Labs” language in Sec. 10509 of the CLARITY Act.
Potential Avenues for Redress for AI-related Harms under EU Equality and Non-Discrimination law: A Visual Explanation
In this third instalment of the series, we look at the opportunities afforded by EU equality and non-discrimination law in providing redress for AI-related harms.
CDT-led Coalition Calls for Transparency for White House AI Framework
CDT and Americans for Responsible Innovation led a broad, bipartisan coalition of over two dozen civil society groups in calling on the White House to release its Framework for review of frontier AI models.
CDT Amicus Brief Calls on Fourth Circuit to Rein In Geofence Warrants
Earlier this year the Supreme Court ruled in Chatrie v United States that the Fourth Amendment protected all cell phone location information, which CDT lauded as a landmark decision, but sent the case back down to the Fourth Circuit to assess the propriety of the geofence warrant at issue.
