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GAO-24-107372 1 (2024-03-08)

handle is hein.gao/gaopzm0001 and id is 1 raw text is: U.S. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE 441 G St. N.W. Washington, DC 20548 March 8, 2024 The Honorable Rochelle Garza Chair The Honorable Victoria Nourse Vice Chair U.S. Commission on Civil Rights Facial Recognition Technology: Federal Law Enforcement Agency Efforts Related to Civil Rights and Training Thank you for the opportunity to contribute to today's discussion on the use of facial recognition technology by federal law enforcement agencies.1 Facial recognition technology is a tool that federal law enforcement agencies may use to help solve crimes. For example, the technology can allow users to quickly search through billions of photos to help identify an unknown suspect in a crime scene photo. The technology can also be used to help identify a victim in a photo or video. While facial recognition technology may support criminal investigations, there are considerations for policymakers and federal agencies, such as the potential impact on civil rights and civil liberties.2 For example, facial recognition technology, like all biometrics technologies, may contain the potential for error and thus the potential to misidentify individuals. As a result, civil rights advocates have cautioned that an over-reliance on facial recognition technology in criminal investigations could lead to the arrest and prosecution of innocent people, particularly those of certain ages and racial and ethnic backgrounds. Additionally, civil liberties advocates have noted that the use of facial recognition at certain events-such as protests-could have a chilling effect on individuals' exercise of their First Amendment rights. My statement today will focus on the use of facial recognition technology by seven law enforcement agencies in the Departments of Homeland Security (DHS) and Justice (DOJ).3 1For the purposes of this testimony, we define federal law enforcement agencies as those that employ law enforcement officers. Consistent with our prior work, we define federal law enforcement officers as full-time employees with federal arrest authority who are authorized to carry firearms while on duty. 2For the purposes of this testimony, we define civil rights as due process protections and personal rights protected by the U.S. Constitution and federal laws, such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964; and civil liberties as the exercise of activities protected under the First Amendment. 3Within DHS, we included U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP); U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); and the U.S. Secret Service. Within DOJ, we included the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF); the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA); the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); and the U.S. Marshals Service. These seven agencies were the focus of our September 2023 report, Facial Recognition Services, Federal Law Enforcement Agencies Should Take Actions to Implement Training, and Policies for Civil Liberties, GAO-23-105607 (Washington, D.C.: Sept. 5, 2023). We selected them because they previously reported owning or using facial recognition technology systems in 2020. In addition, DHS and DOJ employ the highest number of law enforcement officers within the federal government, and cumulatively employ more than 80 GAO-24-107372 Facial Recognition Technology Page 1

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