House Oversight Directs FBI to Settle GAO Surveillance Recommendations
The House Oversight Committee plans a third hearing on facial recognition technology in about six weeks to ensure the FBI is using the tool properly, Chairman Elijah Cummings, D-Md., told reporters Tuesday. Lawmakers hammered an FBI official during a hearing, in which a GAO official outlined agency privacy and transparency failures for the technology. A federal moratorium on the technology remains on the table (see 1905220058). Cummings, numerous Democrats, ranking member Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., are exploring legislation.
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Meadows wouldn’t commit to supporting a moratorium, but he told us: “We have to take a real pause so that we can allow for the legislative language to make sure that it doesn’t violate our civil liberties.” Meadows said he spoke with Cummings after the initial hearing, and he and Jordan are “fully engaged” with various Democrats. It’s a system that’s “not ready for prime time,” Cummings told reporters.
In 2011-2016, the FBI collected and maintained personal data via facial recognition technology without following proper privacy and transparency procedures, Homeland Security and Justice Director Gretta Goodwin told the panel. The bureau didn’t publish the required privacy impact assessments (PIA) or system of records notices (SORN), Goodwin said. The FBI did more than 20,000 searches in the effort but failed to update its PIAs before launching a 2011 pilot program or before significant changes to use of the technology in 2015, Goodwin said. Five related GAO recommendations from 2016 remain open.
Meadows urged the FBI and GAO to get together to resolve the remaining recommendations. Cummings said the two agencies will be invited back for a third hearing in six weeks to two months.
DOJ disagrees with GAO’s assessment of its PIA and SORN procedures, said Criminal Justice Information Services Deputy Assistant Director Kimberly Del Greco, but she agreed to work with GAO to resolve the matter. She told the committee she'll report back with specifics about how it disagrees. Del Greco told lawmakers the agency isn’t using Amazon’s Rekognition technology, and there's no contract between the two sides. They previously partnered for a pilot program.
The FBI asked all states for access to driver’s license photos for its facial recognition technology program, Del Greco said. Twenty-one signed memorandums of understanding, allowing access. The bureau can access 36 million photos via federal databases, Goodwin said. With the addition of 21 state databases, it can access 640 million photos.
Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., lambasted the FBI for its lack of facial recognition record-keeping, specifically on arrests to ensure innocent people aren’t being affected. Del Greco told Maloney the bureau doesn’t have a database for facial recognition-specific arrests. “You should have one, and I’m going to work on one now,” Maloney said. “We need more accountability.” A database is necessary to know what the benefits and harms are for the technology.
The best facial recognition algorithms are about 99.7 percent accurate, said National Institute of Standards and Technology Information Technology Laboratory Director Charles Romine. He relayed results of NIST’s most recent vendor test (see 1811210044), in which about 70 participants ranged in accuracy from nearly 100 percent to significantly lower numbers.
The Transportation Security Administration is doing pilot programs to determine whether to implement facial recognition technology at airport bag drops, said Requirements and Capabilities Analysis Assistant Administrator Austin Gould. The technology could improve safety and customer experience, he said. He was asked how TSA and Customs and Border Protection, a program partner, can ensure airlines aren’t using the data for their own purposes. TSA reaches agreements with the airports for use of the camera systems only, Gould said, and the CBP database is separate.