[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4695 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 4695
To regulate law enforcement use of facial recognition technology, and
for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 23, 2025
Mr. Lieu (for himself, Ms. Clarke of New York, Mr. Gomez, Mr. Ivey, and
Mr. Veasey) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on
Science, Space, and Technology, for a period to be subsequently
determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such
provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To regulate law enforcement use of facial recognition technology, and
for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Facial Recognition Act of 2025''.
SEC. 2. INELIGIBILITY FOR CERTAIN FUNDS.
In the case of a State or unit of local government that received a
grant award under subpart 1 of part E of title I of the Omnibus Crime
Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3750 et seq.), if the
State or unit of local government fails to substantially to comply with
the requirements under this Act for a fiscal year, the Attorney General
shall reduce the amount that would otherwise be awarded to that State
or unit of local government under such grant program in the following
fiscal year by 15 percent.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Arrest photo database.--The term ``arrest photo
database'' means a database populated primarily by booking or
arrest photographs or photographs of persons encountered by an
investigative or law enforcement officer.
(2) Candidate list.--The term ``candidate list'' means the
top images that a facial recognition system determines to most
closely match a probe image.
(3) Derived.--The term ``derived'' means that a Federal or
State government would not have possessed the information or
evidence but for the use of facial recognition, regardless of
any claim that the information or evidence is attenuated from
such recognition, and would inevitably have been discovered or
obtained the information or evidence through other means.
(4) Facial recognition.--The term ``facial recognition''
means an automated or semi-automated process that assists in
identifying or verifying an individual or captures information
about an individual based on the physical characteristics of an
individual's face, head or body, or that uses characteristics
of an individual's face, head or body, to infer emotion,
associations, activities, or the location of an individual.
(5) Face surveillance.--The term ``face surveillance''
means the use of facial recognition with real-time or stored
video footage to track, observe, or analyze the movements,
behavior, data, or actions of an individual or groups of
individuals.
(6) Illegitimately obtained information.--The term
``illegitimately obtained information'' means personal data or
information that was obtained--
(A) in a manner that violates Federal, State, or
Tribal law;
(B) in a manner that violates a service agreement
between a provider of an electronic communication
service to the public or a provider of a remote
computing service and customers or subscribers of that
provider;
(C) in a manner that is inconsistent with the
privacy policy of a provider described in subparagraph
(B), if applicable;
(D) by deceiving a person whose information was
obtained;
(E) through the unauthorized access of an
electronic device or online account;
(F) in violation of a contract, court settlement,
or other binding legal agreement; or
(G) from unlawful or unconstitutional practices by
any government official or entity.
(7) Investigative or law enforcement officer.--The term
``investigative or law enforcement officer'' means--
(A) any officer of a State or a political
subdivision thereof, or of the United States, who is
empowered by law to conduct investigations of or to
make arrests for civil or criminal offenses or
violations of Federal or State law and any attorney
authorized by law to prosecute or participate in the
prosecution of such offenses; and
(B) does not include any officer, employee, or
contractor of a State department of motor vehicles.
(8) Law enforcement agency.--The term ``law enforcement
agency'' means any agency of the United States authorized to
engage in or supervise the prevention, detection,
investigation, or prosecution of any violation of civil or
criminal law.
(9) Probe image.--The term ``probe image'' means an image
of a person that is searched against a database of known,
identified persons or an unsolved photo file.
(10) Prosecutor.--The term ``prosecutor'' means the
principal prosecuting attorney of a State or any political
subdivision thereof and any attorney for the Government (as
such term is defined for the purposes of the Federal Rules of
Criminal Procedure).
(11) Operational testing.--The term ``operational testing''
means testing that evaluates a complete facial recognition
system as it is used in the field, including measuring false
positive and false negative error rates for field uses of the
system on operational or operationally representative data and
under the environmental conditions and technical product
settings and configurations typically used, as well as
assessing the variability of system use by different users.
(12) Reference photo database.--The term ``reference photo
database'' means a database populated with photos of
individuals that have been identified, including databases
composed of driver's licenses, passports, or other documents
made or issued by or under the authority of the United States
Government, a State, a political subdivision thereof, databases
operated by third parties, and arrest photo databases.
(13) State.--The term ``State'' means each State of the
United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of
Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, and the
Northern Mariana Islands.
TITLE I--USE OF FACIAL RECOGNITION BY LAW ENFORCEMENT
SEC. 101. FACIAL RECOGNITION.
(a) Reference Photo Databases.--
(1) In general.--An investigative or law enforcement
officer may only use or request facial recognition in
conjunction with a reference photo database pursuant to an
order issued under subsection (b) and the emergencies and
exceptions under subsection (c).
(2) Maintenance.--
(A) In general.--Beginning on 180 days after the
date of the enactment of this Act, and every six months
thereafter, with respect to an arrest photo database
used in conjunction with facial recognition, the
custodian of such arrest photo database shall remove
from such database all photos of each person who--
(i) has not attained 18 years of age;
(ii) has been released without a charge;
(iii) has been released after charges are
dropped or dismissed; or
(iv) was acquitted of the charged offense.
(B) Rule of construction.--Nothing in this
paragraph shall be construed to prohibit an
investigative or law enforcement officer from using a
database for other investigative procedures, such as
finger printing, and shall only apply to the use of a
reference photo database for the use of facial
recognition.
(3) Procedures.--Any agency responsible for maintaining and
operating an arrest photo database shall establish procedures
to ensure compliance with paragraph (3).
(b) Orders.--
(1) Approval.--An application for a warrant to use a
reference photo database may not be submitted for consideration
by a court unless the head of a law enforcement agency (or a
designee) approves such an application.
(2) Authority.--Except as provided by subsection (d), the
principal prosecutor of a State or any political subdivision
thereof and any attorney for the Government (as such term is
defined for the purposes of the Federal Rules of Criminal
Procedure), may make an application to a court of competent
jurisdiction for, in conformity with paragraph (3), an order
authorizing the use of facial recognition in conjunction with a
reference photo database within the jurisdiction of that judge.
(3) Application.--Except as provided in subsection (c), a
court of competent jurisdiction may issue an order authorizing
the use of facial recognition in conjunction with a reference
photo database if a prosecutor submits an application to that
court that establishes the following:
(A) The identity of the investigative or law
enforcement officer making the application, and the
officer authorizing the application.
(B) As full and complete a description as possible
of the person that the officer seeks to identify.
(C) The photos or video portraying the person that
will be used to search the reference photo database.
(D) Any details regarding other investigative
measures taken to identify such person and an
explanation for why such measures failed or are
reasonably unlikely to succeed.
(E) Any other investigative procedures to identify
such person have been tried and failed or are
reasonably unlikely to succeed.
(F) Probable cause to believe that such person has
committed or is committing a particular offense or
offenses enumerated in section 3559(c)(2)(F) of title
18, United States Code.
(4) Contents of order.--The order described in this
paragraph shall include the following:
(A) All information required to be included in the
application pursuant to such paragraph (3).
(B) A prohibition on the use, for purposes of a
search of a reference photo database, other than
pursuant to another order under this Act, of any photo
or video not specifically listed in the order.
(C) A time period within which the search shall be
made not more than 7 days, and after which no such
search may be made, except pursuant to another order
under this Act.
(D) The authority under which the search is to be
made.
(5) Notice to the public.--
(A) In general.--Each State department of motor
vehicles shall post notices in conspicuous locations at
each department office, make written information
available to all applicants at each office, and provide
information on the department website regarding State
investigative or law enforcement officers' searches of
driver's license and ID photos through facial
recognition. The notices, written information, and
online information must describe how officers use and
access facial recognition in criminal investigations.
(B) Language requirement.--Notices required under
subparagraph (A) shall be posted, as necessary and
reasonable, in Spanish or any language common to a
significant portion of the department's customers, if
they are not fluent in English. The department shall
provide translations of the poster and an electronic
link that leads to the department's website upon
request.
(6) Conforming amendments.--Section 2721 of title 18,
United States Code, is amended--
(A) in subsection (a)--
(i) in paragraph (1), by striking the
``or'' at the end;
(ii) in paragraph (2), by striking the
period at the end and inserting ``; or''; and
(iii) by inserting after paragraph (2) the
following:
``(3) a department operated facial recognition system,
except as provided in subsection (f) of this section.'';
(B) in subsection (b)(1), by inserting before the
period at the end the following: ``but if the personal
information or highly restricted personal information
to be disclosed is a person's photograph to be used or
enrolled in a law enforcement facial recognition
system, only on a case-by-case basis that does not
involve the bulk transfer of persons' photographs to a
State or Federal law enforcement agency or a qualified
third party entity that will allow law enforcement to
access those photographs for the purposes of facial
recognition''; and
(C) by adding at the end the following:
``(f) Law Enforcement Access to Facial Recognition Systems.--A
State department of motor vehicles, and any officer, employee, or
contractor thereof, may make available a department-operated facial
recognition system to a State or Federal law enforcement agency, or
perform searches of such a system on behalf of the agency, only
pursuant to an order issued under section 101 of the Facial Recognition
Act of 2025.''.
(c) Emergencies and Exceptions.--
(1) Initial use.--Notwithstanding subsections (a) and (b),
an investigative or law enforcement officer may use or request
facial recognition in conjunction with a reference photo
database--
(A) to assist in identifying any person who is
deceased, incapacitated or otherwise physically unable
of identifying himself, or the victim of a crime, whom
the officer determines, in good faith, cannot be
identified through other means;
(B) to assist in identifying a person whom the
officer believes, in good faith, is the subject of an
alert through an AMBER Alert communications network, as
that term is used in section 301 of the Prosecutorial
Remedies and Other Tools to end the Exploitation of
Children Today Act of 2003 (34 U.S.C. 20501);
(C) to assist in identifying any person who has
been lawfully arrested, during the process of booking
that person after an arrest or during that person's
custodial detention; or
(D) to assist in identifying any person--
(i) if the appropriate prosecutor
determines that an emergency situation exists--
(I) that involves immediate danger
of death or serious physical injury to
any person; or
(II) that requires the use of
facial recognition in conjunction with
a reference photo database to occur
before an order authorizing such use
can, with due diligence, be obtained;
and
(ii) there are grounds upon which an order
could be entered under this section to
authorize such use.
(2) Subsequent authorization.--If an investigative or law
enforcement officer uses facial recognition pursuant to
paragraph (1)(D), the prosecutor shall apply for an order
approving the use under subsection (b) within 12 hours after
the use occurred. The use shall immediately terminate when the
application for approval is denied, or in the absence of an
application, within 12 hours. In cases where an order is not
obtained or denied, the officer shall destroy all information
obtained as a result of the search.
(3) Affidavit required.--With respect to use of facial
recognition pursuant to paragraph (1)(D), an appropriate
prosecutor shall submit an affidavit to the court identifying
specific details on why they believe that an emergency
situation under clause (i) exists.
(d) State Law Preserved.--The authorities provided by subsections
(b) and (c) do not authorize access reference photo databases
maintained by a State, or a political subdivision of a State, unless
State law expressly and unambiguously authorizes an investigative or
law enforcement officer to--
(1) access driver's license and identification document
photos; and
(2) use facial recognition to conduct searches of those
photos.
SEC. 102. CIVIL RIGHTS AND CIVIL LIBERTIES.
(a) In General.--An investigative or law enforcement officer may
not--
(1) use facial recognition to create a record describing
how any individual exercises rights guaranteed by the
Constitution, including free assembly, association, and speech;
(2) rely on actual or perceived race, ethnicity, national
origin, religion, disability, gender, gender identity, or
sexual orientation in selecting which person to subject to
facial recognition, except when there is trustworthy
information, relevant to the locality and time frame, in the