1. United States
2. Colo.
3. Letter

I am writing to demand that the federal government impose an immediate moratorium on the use of facial recognition technology by federal law enforcement and immigration agencies until Congress enacts binding accuracy standards, civil rights protections, and independent oversight. Federal agencies including ICE, CBP, the FBI, and the Secret Service currently use facial recognition systems from vendors including Clearview AI, NEC, and IDEMIA to scan and identify individuals, often without their knowledge or consent. These systems operate with no federal accuracy standards, no mandatory bias audits, and no requirement that agencies disclose when facial recognition contributed to an investigation or arrest. Independent testing by the National Institute of Standards and Technology has repeatedly documented that facial recognition algorithms produce significantly higher error rates for Black, Indigenous, Asian, and female faces compared to white male faces. False matches have already led to wrongful arrests of innocent Americans. Despite this, agencies continue to expand their use of these systems without addressing the documented accuracy gaps. I urge you to impose a moratorium on federal use of facial recognition technology until Congress passes legislation establishing mandatory accuracy thresholds, demographic equity requirements, and independent audit mechanisms. Federal agencies should be required to disclose all current contracts with facial recognition vendors, including the scope of use, the databases being searched, and the number of queries conducted. Individuals must be notified when facial recognition is used in any investigation, enforcement action, or decision affecting them. The use of facial recognition evidence in immigration proceedings, criminal cases, or benefits determinations should be prohibited until accuracy and bias standards are met. Finally, NIST should be funded to conduct ongoing, public evaluations of all facial recognition systems used by the federal government. Facial recognition is one of the most consequential surveillance technologies the government has ever deployed. It should not be used on the American public without basic standards, transparency, and accountability.