Lawmakers Seek Answers on HUD's Use of Facial Recognition

Eight Democrats in the House and Senate want to know if public housing residents are included in decisions about facial recognition use.

• By Adam Mazmanian
• Dec 20, 2019

Eight Democratic lawmakers, including noted privacy hawk Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), are seeking answers from Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson about the use of facial recognition technology in public housing properties subsidized by HUD.

In a Dec. 18 letter, the lawmakers are seeking a breakdown of public housing and subsidized rental properties that have used facial recognition technology over the past five years and information on what cameras and software technology have been deployed.

The letter also seeks information about whether there is a policy about including residents in decisions about the deployment of facial recognition technology as a security measure and whether there are opt-out procedures for those who don't want their data collected.

Read More: Lawmakers Seek to Ban Biometric Recognition Technology in Public Housing

The lawmakers also want to know if there are procedures for storing and securing biometric data in place, and whether HUD knows about any research linking the use of facial recognition technology with improved safety outcomes.

The letter expresses concern that such systems, "could be used to enable invasive, unnecessary and harmful government surveillance of their residents" and notes that residents "should not have to compromise their civil rights and liberties nor accept the condition of indiscriminate, sweeping government surveillance to find an affordable place to live."

In addition to Wyden, the letter is signed by Sens. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) along with Reps. Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.), Rashida Talib (D-Mich.) and Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.).

This article originally appeared on Federal Computer Week, a sister publication of Security Today under 1105 Media.