capitol hill building

House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Expresses Opposition To Moratorium on Facial Recognition

At a Thursday hearing, Rep. Bennie Thompson said he is not on a “moratorium route” but supports regulation of the software, which has been found to have accuracy issues for people of color.

Following a House hearing on Thursday that addressed the government’s use of facial recognition technology, House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) told reporters that he does not want to pursue a federal moratorium on the use of the software.

Civil liberties groups have called for a ban on the technology, criticizing how police and other government agencies, particularly Customs and Border Enforcement, use facial recognition to identify potential suspects or verify people’s identity when entering the country.

After the hearing, Thompson told media that while he is concerned about privacy rights, he is not inclined to take the route of a moratorium, a proposal that several of his Democratic colleagues have considered.

"I want to put the safeguards in place so that as we roll out technology we can assure the public that this is not an invasive technology," Thompson said, according to The Hill. “We're not prying in folks' bedrooms. This is strictly a method of identification that helps keep us safe. And I think that would not put me on a moratorium route, but it would put me on the route to get us to 100 percent [accuracy].”

Read More: Security Industry, Police Groups Urge Congress Not to Ban Facial Recognition Technology

Thompson’s comments referenced recent academic studies and a report by the National Institute of Standards and Technology finding that a majority of facial recognition systems used in the U.S. are more inaccurate for people of color than white people. In NIST’s December study, Native Americans had the highest rates of false positives, while African-American women were most likely to be misidentified in a law enforcement database.

John Wagner, the deputy executive assistant commissioner of CBP’s field operations office, said that the agency is using technology that scored well in the study conducted by NIST, a federal agency within the Department of Commerce.

The top Republican on the House Oversight and Reform Committee, Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, has said that the government should “pause” procurement of new facial recognition technology, according to The Hill. He told reporters last month that he is working with Democratic colleagues to craft legislation to do so.

Read More: Booker Introduces Legislation to Ban Facial Recognition From Federal Public Housing

"Tell us what you're doing. Tell us how you're doing it. Tell us what agencies are using it, if at all," Jordan said in reference to software developers. "And also, while you're telling us that, don't expand."

About the Author

Haley Samsel is an Associate Content Editor for the Infrastructure Solutions Group at 1105 Media.

Featured

  • AI Is Now the Leading Cybersecurity Concern for Security, IT Leaders

    Arctic Wolf recently published findings from its State of Cybersecurity: 2025 Trends Report, offering insights from a global survey of more than 1,200 senior IT and cybersecurity decision-makers across 15 countries. Conducted by Sapio Research, the report captures the realities, risks, and readiness strategies shaping the modern security landscape. Read Now

  • Analysis of AI Tools Shows 85 Percent Have Been Breached

    AI tools are becoming essential to modern work, but their fast, unmonitored adoption is creating a new kind of security risk. Recent surveys reveal a clear trend – employees are rapidly adopting consumer-facing AI tools without employer approval, IT oversight, or any clear security policies. According to Cybernews Business Digital Index, nearly 90% of analyzed AI tools have been exposed to data breaches, putting businesses at severe risk. Read Now

  • Software Vulnerabilities Surged 61 Percent in 2024, According to New Report

    Action1, a provider of autonomous endpoint management (AEM) solutions, today released its 2025 Software Vulnerability Ratings Report, revealing a 61% year-over-year surge in discovered software vulnerabilities and a 96% spike in exploited vulnerabilities throughout 2024, amid an increasingly aggressive threat landscape. Read Now

  • Motorola Solutions Named Official Safety Technology Supplier of the Ryder Cup through 2027

    Motorola Solutions has today been named the Official Safety Technology Supplier of the 2025 and 2027 Ryder Cup, professional golf’s renowned biennial team competition between the United States and Europe. Read Now

  • Evolving Cybersecurity Strategies

    Organizations are increasingly turning their attention to human-focused security approaches, as two out of three (68%) cybersecurity incidents involve people. Threat actors are shifting from targeting networks and systems to hacking humans via social engineering methods, living off human errors as their most prevalent attack vector. Whether manipulated or not, human cyber behavior is leveraged to gain backdoor access into systems. This mainly results from a lack of employee training and awareness about evolving attack techniques employed by malign actors. Read Now

New Products

  • PE80 Series

    PE80 Series by SARGENT / ED4000/PED5000 Series by Corbin Russwin

    ASSA ABLOY, a global leader in access solutions, has announced the launch of two next generation exit devices from long-standing leaders in the premium exit device market: the PE80 Series by SARGENT and the PED4000/PED5000 Series by Corbin Russwin. These new exit devices boast industry-first features that are specifically designed to provide enhanced safety, security and convenience, setting new standards for exit solutions. The SARGENT PE80 and Corbin Russwin PED4000/PED5000 Series exit devices are engineered to meet the ever-evolving needs of modern buildings. Featuring the high strength, security and durability that ASSA ABLOY is known for, the new exit devices deliver several innovative, industry-first features in addition to elegant design finishes for every opening.

  • Camden CM-221 Series Switches

    Camden CM-221 Series Switches

    Camden Door Controls is pleased to announce that, in response to soaring customer demand, it has expanded its range of ValueWave™ no-touch switches to include a narrow (slimline) version with manual override. This override button is designed to provide additional assurance that the request to exit switch will open a door, even if the no-touch sensor fails to operate. This new slimline switch also features a heavy gauge stainless steel faceplate, a red/green illuminated light ring, and is IP65 rated, making it ideal for indoor or outdoor use as part of an automatic door or access control system. ValueWave™ no-touch switches are designed for easy installation and trouble-free service in high traffic applications. In addition to this narrow version, the CM-221 & CM-222 Series switches are available in a range of other models with single and double gang heavy-gauge stainless steel faceplates and include illuminated light rings.

  • QCS7230 System-on-Chip (SoC)

    QCS7230 System-on-Chip (SoC)

    The latest Qualcomm® Vision Intelligence Platform offers next-generation smart camera IoT solutions to improve safety and security across enterprises, cities and spaces. The Vision Intelligence Platform was expanded in March 2022 with the introduction of the QCS7230 System-on-Chip (SoC), which delivers superior artificial intelligence (AI) inferencing at the edge.