I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5358 

To prohibit the use of biometric recognition technology in certain federally 

assisted dwelling units, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 8, 2023 

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 2023’’. 

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 22:59 Sep 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5358.IH H5358

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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 for the purposes of surveil7 lance or any other use that has an adverse effect on the 

8 ability of a tenant to fairly access affordable housing that 

9 is free from bias and discrimination. 

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

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

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

13 agreement, or other form of financial assistance, but 

14 such term does not include the insurance or guar15 antee of a loan, mortgage, or pool of loans or mort16 gages. 

17 (2) COVERED FEDERALLY ASSISTED RENTAL

18 DWELLING UNIT.—The term ‘‘covered federally as19 sisted rental dwelling unit’’ means a residential 

20 dwelling unit that is made available for rental and 

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

22 a housing project for which assistance is provided, 

23 under— 


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1 (A) the public housing program under the 

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

3 1437 et seq.); 

4 (B) the program for rental assistance 

5 under section 8 of the United States Housing 

6 Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f); 

7 (C) the HOME Investment Partnerships 

8 program under title II of the Cranton-Gonzalez 

9 National Affordable Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 

10 12721 et seq.); 

11 (D) title IV of the McKinney-Vento Home12 less Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11360 et seq.); 

13 (E) the Housing Trust Fund program 

14 under section 1338 of the Housing and Com15 munity Development Act of 1992 (12 U.S.C 

16 4568); 

17 (F) the program for supportive housing for 

18 the elderly under section 202 of the Housing 

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

20 (G) the program for supportive housing for 

21 persons with disabilities under section 811 of 

22 the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable 

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

24 (H) the AIDS Housing Opportunities pro25 gram under subtitle D of title VIII of the CranVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:59 Sep 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5358.IH H5358

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1 ston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act 

2 (42 U.S.C. 12901 et seq.); 

3 (I) the program for Native American hous4 ing under the Native American Housing Assist5 ance and Self-Determination Act of 1996 (25 

6 U.S.C. 4101 et seq.); and 

7 (J) the program for housing assistance for 

8 Native Hawaiians under title VIII of the Native 

9 American Housing Assistance and Self-Deter10 mination Act of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 4221 et seq.). 

11 (3) FACIAL RECOGNITION TECHNOLOGY.—The 

12 term ‘‘facial recognition technology’’ means tech13 nology which facilitates or otherwise enables an 

14 automated or semi-automated process that assists in 

15 identifying an individual based on the physical char16 acteristics of an individual’s face, or that logs char17 acteristics of an individual’s face, head, or body to 

18 infer emotion, associations, activities, or the location 

19 of an individual. 

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

21 private person or entity, including a cooperative, an 

22 agency of the Federal Government, or a public hous23 ing agency, having the legal right to lease or sub24 lease dwelling units. 


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•HR 5358 IH

1 (5) PHYSICAL BIOMETRIC RECOGNITION TECH2 NOLOGY.—The term ‘‘physical biometric recognition 

3 technology’’ means technology which facilitates or 

4 otherwise enables an automated or semi-automated 

5 process that assists in identifying an individual or 

6 capturing information about an individual based on 

7 the characteristics of an individual’s DNA, finger8 prints, palmprints, iris, or retina. 

9 (6) REMOTE BIOMETRIC RECOGNITION TECH10 NOLOGY.—The term ‘‘remote biometric recognition 

11 technology’’ means technology which facilitates or 

12 otherwise enables an automated or semi-automated 

13 process that assists in identifying an individual or 

14 capturing information about an individual based on 

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

16 other immutable characteristic ascertained from a 

17 distance, or that logs such characteristics to infer 

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

19 individual. 

20 SEC. 3. REPORT TO CONGRESS. 

21 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 

22 of this Act, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Develop23 ment shall submit to the Committee on Financial Services 

24 of the House of Representative and the Committee on 

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


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1 make available to the public on the website of the Depart2 ment, a report that describes— 

3 (1) any known usage of facial recognition tech4 nology, physical biometric recognition technology, or 

5 remote biometric recognition technology in any cov6 ered federally assisted dwelling unit during the 5 

7 years preceding the date of enactment of this Act; 

8 (2) any known adverse effects for tenants asso9 ciated with any use of the technology described in 

10 paragraph (1); 

11 (3) the impact of such technology on the resi12 dents of such covered federally assisted rental dwell13 ing units; 

14 (4) the purpose of installing such technologies 

15 in such covered federally assisted rental dwelling 

16 units; 

17 (5) demographic information about the resi18 dents of each covered federally assisted rental dwell19 ing unit where such usage occurred and demo20 graphic information about the area surrounding 

21 such unit; and 

22 (6) the potential impacts on vulnerable commu23 nities, including persons protected under the Fair 

24 Housing Act of 1968, of additional usage of facial 

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1 tion technology, or remote biometric recognition 

2 technology in covered federally assisted rental dwell3 ing units, including impacts on resident privacy, civil 

4 rights, and fair housing. 

Æ 


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