Comment by Don Erickson

SIA represents over 1,000 companies that provide technology solutions vital to bolstering National security, promoting public safety, and protecting information and critical infrastructure. SIA believes all technologies, including facial recognition technologies, must only be used for purposes that are lawful and ethical, and SIA has published principles to promote the responsible and effective use of facial recognition technologies. The benefits of facial recognition technologies are proven and growing across a wide range of use cases and functional applications. In the United States, facial recognition technologies have helped detect identity fraud that fuels other criminal activity, find and rescue human trafficking victims, thwart potential terrorist attacks, solve hate crimes, and crack cold cases. Furthermore, as previous hearings have established, the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS’s) use of facial recognition technologies helps promote national security and public safety and helps enable smoother and more efficient travel in a privacy-protective manner. [...] SIA recognizes and commends the benefits that DHS’s use of facial recognition technologies has already produced. We also understand that legislation governing the Federal Government’s procurement and use of facial recognition technologies could help build public trust and provide additional safeguards, and we support efforts to develop use-case-specific legislation that helps mitigate the risks and promote the numerous, wide-ranging benefits that facial recognition technologies can produce. Before considering legislation that would impact the use of facial recognition technologies, we encourage Members to review SIA’s facial recognition technology resources, including Principles for the Responsible and Effective Use of Facial Recognition Technology, What NIST Data Shows About Facial Recognition and Demographics, and Face Facts: How Facial Recognition Makes Us Safer & the Dangers of a Blanket Ban.