Bill Text: CA AB1814 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

---

Bill Title: Law enforcement agencies: facial recognition technology.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Engrossed) 2024-08-15 - In committee: Held under submission. [AB1814 Detail]

Download: California-2023-AB1814-Introduced.html

---

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 introduced, 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.

Digest Key

Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: NO   Local Program: NO  

---

Bill 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) 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 arrest, search, or affidavit for a warrant.

(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.