House Democrats have introduced legislation that would sharply restrict the Department of Homeland Security’s use of mobile biometric applications, including tools such as Mobile Fortify, according to FedScoop. The proposal is titled the Realigning Mobile Phone Biometrics for American Privacy Protection Act.
Mobile biometric applications used by DHS components have been the subject of ongoing debate, including reporting on ICE’s use of Mobile Fortify in field operations, a separate effort in which senators urged ICE to halt Mobile Fortify, and scrutiny around other tools such as CBP’s Mobile Identify app.
As described by FedScoop, the bill would prohibit DHS from using mobile biometric applications except for identification at ports of entry. The restriction is aimed at limiting how the department can deploy mobile biometrics outside those settings.
The proposal also includes constraints on how biometric and related data could be handled within these applications. FedScoop reports the measure would bar sharing of data with non-law enforcement agencies and would impose a 12-hour storage limit for data in the apps, narrowing the window in which information collected through the tools could be retained.
The bill is led by Rep. Bennie Thompson and has multiple Democratic co-sponsors. In comments cited by the outlet, Thompson argued the department should not be “conducting surveillance by experimenting with Americans’ faces and fingerprints in the field,” and said DHS can “secure the Homeland and respect the rights and privacy of Americans at the same time.”
The legislation focuses on mobile biometric tools that can be used outside fixed screening locations. By setting a narrow allowed-use case, restricting sharing, and limiting retention to hours rather than days, the bill would establish statutory limits around where DHS can use such applications and what it can do with the data handled by them.
The bill’s provisions would combine an allowed-use restriction with explicit handling rules for data collected through mobile biometric applications. In practice, those constraints would narrow where the tools can be used, how long data can be stored in the apps, and whether information can be shared outside law enforcement.
Any change to DHS authorities and operational use would depend on the bill moving through the legislative process. If enacted as described, the restrictions would limit mobile biometric app use to identification at ports of entry and would require DHS components using such tools to operate within the proposed storage and sharing rules.
Sources: FedScoop
—
By the ID Tech Editorial Team
