Washington, D.C. – Oregon’s U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden joined colleagues in introducing the Facial Recognition and Biometric Technology Moratorium Act. This legislation would prevent the government from using facial recognition and other biometric technologies which pose significant privacy and civil liberties issues and disproportionately harm marginalized communities.
“Law enforcement and government’s use of facial recognition technology has resulted in reports of discriminatory outcomes that have ripped innocent people away from their lives, locking them up in jail,” dijo el senador Merkley. “Between the risks of sliding into a surveillance state and the dangers of perpetuating discrimination, this technology creates more problems than solutions. Every American who values their right to privacy, stands against discrimination, and believes people are innocent until proven guilty should be concerned. Enacting a federal moratorium on this technology is critical to ensure our communities are protected from inappropriate surveillance.”
“Smart policies give Americans both privacy and security. But facial recognition systems run a proven risk of costing Americans their fundamental rights, without making us safer,” dijo Wyden. “This legislation would help to balance the scales of justice by preventing an overzealous government from overreaching with a technology that’s proven to land hardest on people of color.”
El Ley de moratoria de tecnología biométrica y reconocimiento facial responds to reports that hundreds of local, state and federal agencies, including law enforcement, have expanded their use of facial recognition technologies while multiple Black men have been arrestado injustamente based on a false facial recognition match, including a recent case in Maryland. Investigación shows nearly half of U.S. adults’ faces exist in facial recognition databases and that the faces of Black and Asian individuals are up to 100 times more likely to be misidentified than white male faces.
El Ley de moratoria de tecnología biométrica y reconocimiento facial haría:
- Colocar una prohibición sobre el uso de la tecnología de reconocimiento facial por parte de las entidades federativas, la cual solo podrá ser levantada con una ley del Congreso;
- Place a prohibition on the use of other biometric technologies, including voice recognition, gate recognition, and recognition of other immutable physical characteristics, by federal entities, which can only be lifted with an act of Congress;
- Condicionar el financiamiento de subvenciones federales a entidades estatales y locales, incluidas las fuerzas del orden público, a que aquellas entidades promulguen sus propias moratorias sobre el uso de tecnología biométrica y de reconocimiento facial;
- Prohibir el uso de dólares federales para sistemas de vigilancia biométrica;
- Prohibir el uso de información recopilada a través de tecnología biométrica en violación de la Ley en cualquier procedimiento judicial;
- Provide a private right of action for individuals whose biometric data is used in violation of the Act and allow for enforcement by state Attorneys General; and
- Allow states and localities to enact their own lawsr egarding the use of facial recognition and biometric technologies.
Merkley has strived to put a spotlight on the dangers of biometric facial recognition technology. Most recently he led colleagues in a letter to Transportation Security Administration (TSA) calling for an immediate halt of TSA’s facial recognition technology and practices at U.S. Airports.
Merkley and Wyden have both previously supported this critical piece of legislation.
El Facial Recognition and Biometric Technology Moratorium Act of 2023 is led by Senators Edward J. Markey (D-MA) and Merkley, and is cosponsored by Senators Wyden, Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Elizabeth Warren (D-Ma), and Representative Pramila Jayapal (WA-07).
El texto de la factura se puede encontrar aquí.
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