I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4008 

To prohibit the use of biometric recognition technology in certain federally 

assisted dwelling units, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 25, 2019 

Ms. CLARKE of New York (for herself, Ms. PRESSLEY, and Ms. TLAIB) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To prohibit the use of biometric recognition technology in 

certain federally assisted dwelling units, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘No Biometric Barriers 

5 to Housing Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON BIOMETRIC IDENTIFICATION 

7 TECHNOLOGY. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—At any time after the expiration 

9 of the 1-year period beginning on the date of the enactVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:26 Aug 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4008.IH H4008

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1 ment of this Act, an owner of a covered federally assisted 

2 rental dwelling unit, may not use, or authorize the use 

3 of, facial recognition technology, physical biometric rec4 ognition technology, or remote biometric recognition tech5 nology in such dwelling unit or in any building or grounds 

6 containing such dwelling unit. 

7 (b) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this Act: 

8 (1) ASSISTANCE.—The term ‘‘assistance’’ 

9 means any grant, loan, subsidy, contract, cooperative 

10 agreement, or other form of financial assistance, but 

11 such term does not include the insurance or guar12 antee of a loan, mortgage, or pool of loans or mort13 gages. 

14 (2) COVERED FEDERALLY ASSISTED RENTAL

15 DWELLING UNIT.—The term ‘‘covered federally as16 sisted rental dwelling unit’’ means a residential 

17 dwelling unit that is made available for rental and 

18 for which assistance is provided, or that is part of 

19 a housing project for which assistance is provided, 

20 under— 

21 (A) the public housing program under the 

22 United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 

23 1437 et seq.); 

24 (B) the program for supportive housing for 

25 persons with disabilities under section 811 of 


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1 the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable 

2 Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 8013); 

3 (C) the program for supportive housing for 

4 the elderly under section 202 of the Housing 

5 Act of 1959 (12 U.S.C. 1701q); or 

6 (D) the program for project-based rental 

7 assistance under section 8 of the United States 

8 Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f). 

9 (3) FACIAL RECOGNITION TECHNOLOGY.—The 

10 term ‘‘facial recognition technology’’ means tech11 nology which facilitates or otherwise enables an 

12 automated or semi-automated process that assists in 

13 identifying an individual based on the physical char14 acteristics of an individual’s face, or that logs char15 acteristics of an individual’s face, head, or body to 

16 infer emotion, associations, activities, or the location 

17 of an individual. 

18 (4) OWNER.—The term ‘‘owner’’ means any 

19 private person or entity, including a cooperative, an 

20 agency of the Federal Government, or a public hous21 ing agency, having the legal right to lease or sub22 lease dwelling units. 

23 (5) PHYSICAL BIOMETRIC RECOGNITION TECH24 NOLOGY.—The term ‘‘physical biometric recognition 

25 technology’’ means technology which facilitates or 


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1 otherwise enables an automated or semi-automated 

2 process that assists in identifying an individual or 

3 capturing information about an individual based on 

4 the characteristics of an individual’s DNA, finger5 prints, palmprints, iris, or retina. 

6 (6) REMOTE BIOMETRIC RECOGNITION TECH7 NOLOGY.—The term ‘‘remote biometric recognition 

8 technology’’ means technology which facilitates or 

9 otherwise enables an automated or semi-automated 

10 process that assists in identifying an individual or 

11 capturing information about an individual based on 

12 the characteristics of an individual’s gait, voice, or 

13 other immutable characteristic ascertained from a 

14 distance, or that logs such characteristics to infer 

15 emotion, associations, activities, or the location of an 

16 individual. 

17 SEC. 3. REPORT TO CONGRESS. 

18 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 

19 of this Act, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Develop20 ment shall submit to the Committee on Financial Services 

21 of the House of Representative and the Committee on 

22 Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate and 

23 make available to the public on the website of the Depart24 ment, a report that describes— 


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1 (1) any known usage of facial recognition tech2 nology, physical biometric recognition technology, or 

3 remote biometric recognition technology in any cov4 ered federally assisted dwelling unit during the 5 

5 years preceding the date of enactment of this Act; 

6 (2) the impact of such technology on the resi7 dents of such covered federally assisted rental dwell8 ing units; 

9 (3) the purpose of installing such technologies 

10 in such covered federally assisted rental dwelling 

11 units; 

12 (4) demographic information about the resi13 dents of each covered federally assisted rental dwell14 ing unit where such usage occurred; and 

15 (5) the potential impacts on vulnerable commu16 nities of additional usage of facial recognition tech17 nology, physical biometric recognition technology, or 

18 remote biometric recognition technology in covered 

19 federally assisted rental dwelling units, including im20 pacts on resident privacy, civil rights, and fair hous21 ing. 

Æ 


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