Bill Text: CA AB1814 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Law enforcement agencies: facial recognition technology.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Engrossed) 2024-08-05 - In committee: Referred to APPR suspense file. [AB1814 Detail]
Download: California-2023-AB1814-Amended.html
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Amended
IN
Senate
June 12, 2024 |
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Amended
IN
Assembly
May 06, 2024 |
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Amended
IN
Assembly
February 28, 2024 |
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE—
2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION
Assembly Bill
No. 1814
| Introduced by Assembly Member Ting |
January 10, 2024 |
An act to add Section 13661 to the Penal Code, relating to law enforcement.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1814, as amended, Ting.
Law enforcement agencies: facial recognition technology.
Existing law, generally, regulates state and local law enforcement agencies regarding subject matter that includes the selection and training of peace officers, the maintenance and release of records, the use of force, and the use of certain equipment. Previous law, until January 1, 2023, prohibited the use of real-time facial recognition technology (FRT) by law enforcement agencies in connection with body-worn cameras.
This bill would prohibit a law enforcement agency or peace officer from using an FRT-generated match as the sole basis for probable cause in an arrest, search, or warrant. arrest or search. The bill would prohibit a judge from granting an application for a warrant
based solely on an FRT match. The bill would authorize a court to award damages of up to $25,000 and reasonable attorney’s fees to an individual who is subjected to a violation of this provision. these provisions and reasonable attorney’s fees to the prevailing party.
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: NO Local Program: NOBill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
Section 13661 is added to the Penal Code, to read:13661.
(a) (1) A law enforcement agency or peace officer shall not use a facial recognition technology (FRT) match as the sole basis for probable cause for an(2) A judge shall not grant an application for a warrant based solely on an FRT match.
(b) A peace officer using information obtained from the use of FRT shall examine results with care and consider the possibility that matches could be inaccurate.
(c) For purposes of this section, the following terms have the following meanings:
(1) “Facial recognition technology” or “FRT” means a system that compares a probe image of an unidentified human face against a reference photograph database, and, based on biometric data, generates possible matches to aid in identifying the person in the probe image.
(2) “Probe image” means an image of a person that is searched against a database of known, identified persons or an unsolved photograph file.
(3) “Reference photograph database” means a database populated with photographs of individuals that have been identified, including databases composed of driver’s licenses or other documents made or issued by or under the authority of the state, a political subdivision thereof, any other state, or a federal agency, databases operated by third parties, and arrest photograph databases. This paragraph shall not be deemed to abrogate the provisions of Section 12800.7 of the Vehicle Code or any other provision of law limiting the use of databases populated with photographs of individuals.
(d) (1) A violation of this section constitutes false arrest, as defined in Section 236,
arrest for which damages of up to twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) may be awarded to an individual who is subjected to the false arrest.
(2) A court shall award reasonable attorney’s fees to a prevailing plaintiff party under this subdivision.
(3) This subdivision does not preclude any other remedies available under other applicable laws.
(4) For purposes of this subdivision, a “false arrest” occurs when an individual is detained, arrested, or
otherwise placed in custody without legal justification.
