I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4368 
To prohibit the use of trade secrets privileges to prevent defense access 
to evidence in criminal proceedings, provide for the establishment of 
Computational Forensic Algorithm Standards, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 17, 2019 
Mr. TAKANO introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Science, 
Space, and Technology, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 
Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within 
the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To prohibit the use of trade secrets privileges to prevent 
defense access to evidence in criminal proceedings, pro-
vide for the establishment of Computational Forensic 
Algorithm Standards, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Justice in Forensic 
Algorithms Act of 2019’’. 
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SEC. 2. COMPUTATIONAL FORENSIC ALGORITHM STAND-
ARDS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 
date of enactment of this Act, the Director of the National 
Institute of Standards and Technology shall establish a 
program to provide for creation and maintenance of stand-
ards for the development and use of computational foren-
sic software, to be known as the Computational Forensic 
Algorithm Standards, consistent with the following: 
(1) Standards shall include an assessment for 
the potential for disparate impact, on the basis of 
race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, gender, and 
other demographic features, in the development and 
use of the computational forensic software. 
(2) Standards shall address— 
(A)(i) the underlying scientific principles 
and methods implemented in computational fo-
rensic software; and 
(ii) if, in the case of a particular method, 
there are insufficient studies supporting its use, 
what studies the Director has conducted to do 
so, and the results of such studies; 
(B) requirements for testing the software 
including the conditions under which it needs to 
be tested, types of testing data to be used, test-
ing environments, testing methodologies, and 
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system performance statistics required to be re-
ported including— 
(i) accuracy, including false positive 
and false negative error rates; 
(ii) precision; 
(iii) reproducibility; 
(iv) robustness; and 
(v) sensitivity; 
(C) requirements for publicly available doc-
umentation by developers of computational fo-
rensic software of the purpose and function of 
the software, the development process, including 
source and description of training data, and in-
ternal testing methodology and results, includ-
ing source and description of testing data; 
(D) requirements for laboratories and any 
other entities using computational forensic soft-
ware to validate it for use, including to specify 
the conditions under which the lab has vali-
dated it for their use, requirements for what in-
formation needs to be included in a public re-
port on the lab or other entity’s validation, and 
requirements for internal validation updates 
when there are material changes to the soft-
ware; and 
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(E) requirements for reports provided to 
defendants by prosecution produced docu-
menting the use and results of computational 
forensic software in individual cases. 
(3) Standards shall be issued as a rulemaking 
under section 553 of title 5, United States Code. 
(4) The Director shall consult with outside ex-
perts in forensic science, bioethics, algorithmic dis-
crimination, data privacy, racial justice, criminal jus-
tice reform, exonerations, and other relevant areas 
of expertise identified through public input. 
(b) PROTECTION OF TRADE SECRETS.—The Federal 
Rules of Evidence are amended by adding at the end of 
article V the following: 
‘‘Rule 503. PROTECTION OF TRADE SECRETS IN A CRIMINAL 
PROCEEDING. 
‘‘In any criminal case, trade secrets protections do 
not apply when defendants would otherwise be entitled to 
obtain evidence.’’. 
(c) REQUIREMENTS FOR FEDERAL USE OF FOREN-
SIC ALGORITHMS.—Any Federal law enforcement agency 
or crime laboratory providing services to a Federal agency 
using computational forensic software may use only soft-
ware that has been tested under the National Institute of 
Standards and Technology’s Computational Forensic Al-
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gorithm Testing Program and shall conduct an internal 
validation according to the requirements outlined in the 
Computational Forensic Algorithm Standards and make 
the results publicly available. The internal validation shall 
be updated when there is a material change in the soft-
ware that triggers a retesting by the Computational Fo-
rensic Algorithm Testing Program. 
(d) REQUIREMENTS FOR TESTING.—The Director of 
the National Institute of Standards and Technology shall 
establish a Computational Forensic Algorithm Testing 
Program, whose activities include the following: 
(1) Testing individual software programs using 
the testing requirements established in the Computa-
tional Forensic Algorithm Standards. 
(2) Using realistic sample testing data similar 
to what would be used by law enforcement in crimi-
nal investigations in performing such testing, includ-
ing incomplete and contaminated samples. 
(3) Using testing data that represents diversity 
of racial, ethnic, and gender identities and intersec-
tions of these identities in performing such testing. 
(4) Using testing data that tests the limits of 
the software and demonstrates the boundaries of re-
liability described in the performance measures de-
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